


Coffee, Dr. Reid?

by frogthief



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Angst, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hidden Feelings, Hurt feelings, Kind of Self Insert, Love Confession, Minor Character Death, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reader Is In College, Romance, Season/Series 04, dumb kids, i love these guys so much
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:41:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23609299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frogthief/pseuds/frogthief
Summary: Grace Fairfield's close friend, Jennifer Jareau, works for the Behavioral Analysis Unit at the FBI office in Quantico, VA. Grace has become close with the team over the year's, although she isn't a part of it. When old feelings resurface for a certain Boy Genius, can Grace navigate them without letting her guard down and getting hurt? What will happen if the can't take the hint, or worse, finds her feelings juvenile and rejects her?Alternatively called: Grace is a barista, Reid is a coffee addict, you can already tell where this is going ;^)starts in approximately the beginning of season 4 of criminal minds!
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Original Female Character(s), Spencer Reid/Reader
Comments: 23
Kudos: 139





	1. Grey comforters and black cats

**Author's Note:**

> first ever fic so i hope you enjoy :) i just love this group so much :’)))
> 
> please leave a comment and some kudos if you’re interested in seeing more! im almost done with chapter 2!!

Title song: Uno by Rex Orange County

“I’m telling you, you need to get out there again, you’ve been too distant lately,” Jennifer Jareau spoke softly on the phone, her words more reassuring than reprehensive. She heard a quiet sigh through the other end of the phone, then a long pause, and the voice responded. 

“I know, I just…” The woman on the end of the phone seemed like she needed to choose her words carefully, almost scared that she would worry her friend. Her voice was soft, she sounded tired. “I feel like I’m not putting enough time into my work, or my studies. I’m really sorry J.J., I just don’t think that I have any spare time right now.”

Jennifer, otherwise known as J.J. to her friends and close acquaintances, frowned. “Grace, you know that isn’t true. You’ve been pushing yourself way too hard. You work more than most people I know.” Grace could hear J.J.’s frown. 

“J.J. I’ve been slipping behind lately, I’m not sure that going out would be such a good idea.” She really wasn’t lying. 

Grace had put too much on her plate, she always did. This time around, she was completing her senior year of college, working a job as a barista, and working at a riding stable near her college.

She needed the money from her barista job to afford food and rent, and she needed the job at the barn to help pay off her loans. She had started to fall into another depressive episode recently, and had started to detach from the things that demanded her attention. It wasn’t a terrible one, she was still able to get out of bed, eat enough, and go to class, but she had stopped caring about her physical appearance and started slacking in her class work. 

She felt herself slowing to a stop, moving forward was like trying to fight your way through a strong tide. She knew that J.J. was right, maybe a night off would be good, but did she deserve that?

Grace shook her head and cleared her throat. “I don’t know, let me just think about it? Maybe a small break would be good.” She pinched the bridge of her noise and let out a small sigh.

“Please actually think about it, I know that you say that even when your mind is already made up,” J.J. sounded disappointed. Grace’s stomach sank.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” J.J.’s voice barely hid a hint of excitement.  
“Yes, okay. Just be easy on me, I’ve been cooped up a little bit too long.” A part of her felt relieved, she needed this. “Do you have anything in mind?”  
J.J. immediately perked up, seemingly forgetting her previous disappointment.

“Yeah actually, I think that some of my coworkers and I are planning on going to a bar this weekend, you should come with.”

“How many people are we talking about here?” Anxiety started to prickle inside of Grace. There was no way she could be with a large group of people, she was hoping it would just be her and her close friend.  
J.J.’s voice brought her back before she could begin her internal spiral. 

“It’ll just be us, Garcia, and Emily. A simple girl’s night at the bar. Please Grace, I need a little night off. Being pregnant is exhausting.” She let out a light chuckle. She couldn’t argue with that. Grace had met both Penelope Garcia and Emily Prentiss on a few occasions. She got along with both of them well, maybe this wouldn’t be a total disaster. In fact, she got along with essentially everyone on J.J.’s team at the BAU. 

J.J. had dragged Grace along to their after-work antics more than a few times. She loved J.J.’s colleagues, they always welcomed her with open arms and she enjoyed their company. It had been a while since she’d last seen them, however, and she missed them. 

Grace smiled for what seemed like the first time in forever. “Yeah, okay. I guess that I’m in. Just remind yourself that I haven’t been feeling like myself lately, I don’t want to let you down if I’m a buzzkill.” Her face hardened. 

“I don’t think that you could be a buzzkill even if you tried, Sofs.” J.J.’s words made Grace’s lips turn up. What started off as a nickname given to her by her older sister, Haley, had slowly been taken on by her close friend. When she was born, Haley had wanted her to be named Sofie. Her parents overruled her request and named her Grace. Haley rebelled by calling her baby sister ‘Sofs’ as they grew up. It was the small victories that mattered to her. Only J.J. and Haley were allowed to use that nickname.

“So, a bar, this weekend. Text me the details and I guess that I’m there,” Grace crossed an arm over her chest and let out a deep breath. This was a good thing. She needed this. She had been pushing herself, she could admit that. Something about leaving her calm apartment terrified her in a way that she couldn’t explain. There was no reason for her to feel nervous. Logically, she knew that. It was just a night out, with some female friends, absolutely no pressure. 

Grace pushed her hair away from her face and crossed her arms. She wandered into her bedroom and sat down on her bed. She smoothed out her grey comforter with her hands, and looked over at her cat. 

“What do you think, Salem? Am I being dumb?” She scratched the black cat behind the ears. Salem let out a small meow, and Grace smirked. “Yeah, you’re right. I know that I am.” She huffed as she flopped down onto the bed. Maybe taking a nap before her psycholinguistics class would be beneficial. 

She set her alarm, and then closed her eyes. She fell asleep almost immediately.

—————————-

Grace had gotten a text from J.J almost immediately following their conversation. They were going to meet at a bar in Quantico on Friday night. Grace would leave right after her 2:30 PM Cognitive Process lecture, as it was an hour and a half drive from University of Virginia to Quantico, and that was without rush hour. She would stay at Penelope’s apartment, per Penelope’s request, so she didn’t have to risk driving home late, and she asked one of her friends to check on Salem on Saturday morning. 

Her professor finished up his lecture on reinforcing positive thought patterns, and she hastily rushed out of the door. She made her way to her Subaru and started her way to Quantico. She had already packed her overnight bag, affectionately titled her ‘go bag’, as that’s what J.J. calls it. 

The drive to Quantico felt everlasting. Anxiety soared through her entire being. It manifested in nervous tapping of her fingers on the steering wheel and a rhythmic bouncing of her left leg. 

“Jesus Christ dude, calm down. It is not that serious,” She mumbled to herself. It was almost 6:30 PM and she was still about 15 minutes out. She knew that she was going to be late. It wasn’t like J.J. would mind, she knew that Grace had a class before she needed to leave, and it wasn’t a close drive from her campus. She just hated the feeling of letting other people down. She was so consumed in her thoughts that she almost missed her exit.

By the time that she had pulled up to the bar, she had gotten herself so wound up that she had a tension headache. She pulled some Advil out of her purse and took a deep inhale before checking her appearance in her sun visor mirror. She was glad that she had opted to wear concealer today, but she wished that she would have worn her glasses. Her bags were ridiculously obvious, she didn’t want to give J.J. any indicator that she hadn’t been taking the utmost care of herself lately. 

After a few moments of debating, she decided that she couldn’t fix her bags, and she couldn’t sit in the car all night, so she hopped out of her little Subaru and headed into the bar.

The loud noise in the bar overwhelmed her the moment she stepped inside. She felt her chest tighten as she scanned the room for her friends. She finally locked eyes with Penelope, who started waving like a madwoman. Grace felt a rush of relief fall over her as a grin crept onto her face. She made her way through the crowd and over to the high top bar. She was greeted by beaming smiles and a clamor of different ‘hellos’. 

J.J. threw her arms around Grace. “You finally made it! How was the drive?” Her eyes glimmered.

She gave her a huge smile and a quiet giggle. “It wasn’t awful, definitely not the worst drive I’ve ever been on,” she beamed. She turned to Emily and Penelope. “And how are my favorite profiler and tech analyst?” 

Penelope wrapped her in a tight hug. “Amazing as ever, sugar!” She pulled away and scanned Grace’s face. “What about you? How’s your final year treating you?”

Emily was next. She embraced her warmly and with confidence. Grace envied Emily for her confidence and ability to command a room. “Nothing new with me, just the usual work stressors. Tell us about how things have been going with you. How’s work?” 

Grace waved her hand nonchalantly. “Same old, same old. Work is business as usual. I’m wrapping up my first semester now, passing every class so that’s a good sign,” she grinned. 

J.J. nudged her. “Oh come on, maintaining a 4.0 this semester is not just passing every class. You’ve been working your ass off, give yourself some credit!”

Penelope and Emily nodded in agreement. “She’s right, feeling proud of yourself is not the same as being holier-than-thou,” Emily stared at her. 

She shifted uncomfortably in her stool. “So, how is everyone else on the team doing?” She tried taking the conversation in a different direction. Not a smart move.

“What she means is ‘How is Reid doing’,” J.J. snickered. Grace’s face turned bright red as Penelope laughed and Emily raised an eyebrow.

“Oh my god, Emily doesn’t know,” Penelope managed to say through her fit of giggles.

“Know what?”

“Nothing! There is absolutely nothing to know,” Grace covered her face with her hands.

“Grace had a major crush on Reid after they first met a few years back,” Penelope snorted.

It wasn’t untrue, but it was so long ago. She had been 19 turning 20, and she and Haley had gone down to Quantico to visit J.J.. Spencer Reid had been about 24 at the time, and Grace thought that he was easily the cutest boy she had ever seen. She probably looked like an idiot around him. She blushed whenever he talked to her, giggled at all of his jokes, and made an effort to look more mature than she was, all in hopes to catch his attention. He hadn’t seemed very interested in her. In fact, he had hardly noticed her at all. She was humiliated, but J.J., Penelope, and Haley thought that it was hilarious. 

Emily’s jaw dropped. “No, you did NOT have a crush on Reid!” She held back the urge to laugh.

Grace let her head fall onto the table and she let out a loud groan. “It was like, 3 years ago,” her voice was muffled. 

J.J. gave her a reassuring pat on the back. “There, there, we know, we’re just giving you a hard time,” you could hear her huge smile. “Besides, it was really sweet.”

Grace got up from her slumped stature. “I’m getting a drink, anyone want anything?”

She was met with excited chatter. A grin threatened to sneak onto her face. Yeah, this was exactly what she needed. 

—————————-

After a night of a little too much to drink, Penelope drove Grace, and her Subaru back to her apartment. On the short drive from the bar to Penelope’s, Grace could feel sleep starting to take hold. As soon as they got to the apartment, Grace hastily took out her contacts, and flopped down onto the couch. 

She was about to fall asleep, when Penelope spoke up. “Just in case you’re a little bit curious, I don’t think that Boy Genius is seeing anyone right now.”

Grace looked over at her and studied her face. Why bring that up now? It had been such a long time. Sure, Grace still thought about his light brown eyes and his unfairly defined cheekbones from time to time, but that didn’t mean anything. 

“First of all, I’m so incredibly over that. Second of all, even if I wasn’t, Spencer was not at all impressed by me, there’s nothing that points to him even being remotely interested in me,” she frowned. 

Penelope shrugged. “Honey, you know how clueless that boy can be. He might be a literal genius but he doesn’t know how to respond when pretty girls show him attention. You don’t have to do anything with that fun little tidbit, but you’ll still be in town tomorrow, and I know that you’ll miss Salem but cats are very self-sufficient. Maybe you two could catch up?” Her tone was curious, she was testing the waters.

Grace let out a long sigh. “I don’t know, maybe. Lemme think about it,” she yawned and closed her eyes. “Goodnight Penelope. Thanks for letting me crash here.”

Penelope smiled and shook her head. “Anytime, my love. Goodnight, sugar.” She turned the light off, but not before texting J.J. 

‘Any chance we can wrangle the gang tomorrow?’

Penelope’s phone lit up at the instantaneous response.

‘Already on it’

Penelope grinned and glanced over at Grace. She had already fallen asleep, her chest rising and falling gently. Poor thing. Penelope had noticed how tired Grace had looked, a little bit disheveled, too. Her light brown hair had been more wavy than the last time Penelope had seen her, and on the frizzy-side towards the top of her head. Usually she smoothed all of those crazy flyaways down with product. She assumed that she didn’t have the energy to do that now. 

Penelope didn’t know Grace very well, only based on interactions and things that she had heard from J.J., but she knew a sinking ship when she saw one. Penelope let out a sigh that seemed to say ‘come on kid, take better care yourself,’ before she climbed into her bed and let sleep take hold of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading! please leave a comment and/or some kudos if you’re interested in seeing more. i’m a little nervous and embarrassed to post this because it’s literally my first ever piece of fan fiction, but fuck it


	2. Whitney Houston and Tequila Shots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace and the BAU go to a club. She sees Dr. Spencer Reid for the first time in a year. How awkward can things be?
> 
> There's drinking in this chapter (obviously) but no one is shitfaced/drunk!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY got to write reid! this chapter isn't even necessarily exciting, but it's setting up the next chapter ;^)
> 
> i almost continued this chapter, but i was already at 3400 words and i knew that if I tried to write more, my word count would have easily doubled, so i decided to throw everything into the next chapter.
> 
> i hope that you enjoy this chapter!!
> 
> TITLE SONG: I Wanna Dance with Somebody by Whitney Houston

Light pooled in through the window in Penelope’s living room. It settled onto Grace’s face, and she opened her eyes slowly. She squinted as she sat up. Her eyes shifted to the kitchen, where she saw Penelope nursing a cup of coffee. 

“Oh good! You’re awake. How was your beauty sleep? Feeling refreshed?” Penelope mused.

Grace blinked slowly, before letting out a yawn. She stretched her arms up to the ceiling as she stood up, and then she reached all the way down and touched her toes. She held this position for a moment, exhaling as she did so, then she stood upright again and made her way over to Penelope.

“Good, better than I have in a few weeks, I’m sure,” she looked around the apartment. “Your apartment is cute, it really captures your essence,” she smiled fondly.

Penelope playfully pushed her arm. “Oh you flatter me, sweetcheeks,” she led her over to the couch again, where they both sat down. “I have a proposition for you. Why don’t you stay in Quantico another night, and you can go out with the rest of the team tonight?” Her eyes sparkled.

Grace frowned. “I don’t know, Penelope. I have work at the cafe tomorrow and Salem is alone, and I could catch up on schoolwork if I’m at my place, and-“

Penelope cut her off. “Okay, you don’t have to explain yourself to me, but it was JJ’s idea. She thinks that it would be good for you. It was really nice seeing you in such a good mood yesterday,” Penelope’s eyes pleaded with you.

“Okay,” Grace sighed. She didn’t want to disappoint JJ, or anyone on her team. Her team was important to her, they were like her family, and Grace knew that. “Okay yeah, just let me try to find someone to cover for me at work.”

“Oh that’s already been done, sugar. We were hoping that you would say yes, so JJ called your coworker, I think her name was Sarah, and got her to cover for you.” Penelope grinned from ear to ear. Of course JJ had already planned that far ahead. She knew that it was very unlikely that Grace would say no to her.

She trusted her immensely. JJ had never given Grace a reason to not trust her, in all of the years that they had known each other. She’d been there for her when Haley had died, and really stepped into the role of mock big sister for Grace. She had given Grace her support after she had decided to take a gap year following Haley’s death, but gave her tough love and pushed her to go back to school the next year. 

She had helped her make the move down to Virginia, after she transferred from the University of Minnesota to the University of Virginia. Grace knew that it sounded irrational, but she needed JJ to function that first year in Virginia, she was glad that she had moved down so her friend could keep her in check. 

Grace and JJ had met through Haley. They had gone to Georgetown together and quickly became best friends. Grace and JJ were as close as they could be, given that JJ was Haley’s friend. JJ had always been in Grace’s corner, though. After Haley’s death, they grew incredibly close. Grace had moved in with JJ during her gap year, and moved out when she started school again. 

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Grace shook her head and let herself laugh. “I didn’t bring any club appropriate clothes, though. I might still have some mule heels in my car from the last time I went out, but I don’t know what other acceptable things I have with me,” she frowned. She knew that she was being ridiculous, but she didn’t want to look like a fool in front of JJ’s team. Deep down, she knew that they really wouldn’t care what she looked like, tonight was going to be about having fun. Maybe part of Grace was just hoping that she would get lucky tonight. It had been a little while since she last got laid, and she hoped that maybe it would help her unwind and destress.

“I am positive that you’ll look adorable in anything you wear tonight. You could make a garbage bag look good. You’re cute as a button, Grace,” Penelope’s voice was reassuring and brought her back into reality. “Besides, I’m sure that JJ has something that you can borrow if you’re feeling self-conscious. You’re both teeny tiny.”

She was absolutely right. She bit the bullet and texted JJ

‘have anything i could wear tonight?’

Emotions swirled inside of her. Seriously, why was she so nervous? She was always welcomed by the BAU. Maybe it was because she hadn’t seen them in a while. It had been close to a year since she last saw Morgan, Hotch, and Reid. She was in town, visiting JJ, around the one year anniversary of Haley’s death. The team was supportive and kept her mind off of it. That was, until Reid had started to state some facts about hit and runs, and Grace cracked. Reid had tried to apologize and comfort her, he hadn’t meant to upset her. Facts and statistics made him feel better because they made sense, he often forgot that some people just needed a distraction or shoulder to cry on. 

The situation had made the rest of the night incredibly awkward, and Morgan had chewed Reid out about it. Grace had left promptly afterwards. She was over it now, she knew that Reid hadn’t intentionally upset her. She hadn’t talked to him since the incident, and she knew that things might be a little awkward and stiff tonight. 

Grace exhaled and tried to shrug her feelings off. Seeing everyone again would be nice, she had such a great time with the girls last night. She just needed to get past the initial anxiety, and she would be fine.

\----------------------------

The club was loud and warm. It enveloped her and sent excited tingles through her body. She could feel the bass of the music in her chest, like an extra heartbeat. It was dark, with neon lights shining rhythmically. Despite her anxiety, she loved going out with her friends. She walked in with JJ and Will. She had ended up borrowing a black tank top from JJ, and she wore her jeans, and short, slip-on heels. Her hair was a little tousled, and she applied bright red lipstick before she walked in. Even she had to admit, she looked pretty hot. 

They made their way over to Emily, Morgan, and Penelope. Grace felt relief rush over her when she noticed their outfit choices. Morgan was wearing a black t-shirt and black pants, Emily donned a low cut red blouse and slacks, and Penelope wore a black sweater and jeans. 

Grace smiled wide as Derek Morgan made his way over to her. “Hey kid, how have you been?” He threw his arms around her and she giggled. It was amazing how comfortable she felt around him. Even though he was overly flirty, he had never overstepped a boundary with her. She really respected that.

“Hey Morgan, I’ve been okay! Just finishing up this semester,” She shrugged nonchalantly. 

“Have you taken any thought to what you’re going to do after graduation?” He didn’t do a very good job at hiding his curiosity. She knew exactly what he was talking about. Over the past few years, she had juggled the idea of applying for the FBI Academy in Quantico after graduation. It was between that and going to graduate school to be a psychiatrist. Regardless of which she chose, she knew that she wanted to help people. Both jobs would allow that goal.

Part of her was worried that she wouldn’t even get accepted into the Academy, let alone graduate and work for the FBI. Maybe that was an irrational concern, or maybe it was all too valid. 

Grace shook her head. “No, I’m still debating which path would be more logical for me. I’m still majoring in psych though, so either one I choose will be supported by that.” She gave the tall man a slight grin.

Morgan furrowed his eyebrows at her, like he wanted to say something. Instead, he refrained, and gave her a pat on her shoulder, before looking around at the group. “Anyone know when Reid or Hotch will be here?” 

“They should both be here soon,” Emily looked at her phone to check the time. “In the meantime, why don’t we get a head start at the bar?” She wiggled her eyebrows. Grace and Penelope shared an eager grin as they followed Emily to the crowded bar. 

Morgan turned to JJ, then looked over at Grace. “How’s she been holding up?” He motioned his head towards the younger girl. JJ crossed her arms and leaned on one hip.

“She’s been pushing herself too hard lately, she won’t admit it but I can tell.” JJ shook her head. She gazed empathetically at Grace, who was all too busy doing shots of tequila with Emily and Penelope to notice. “I’m really glad that she decided to come visit, and that she let me drag her to two nights out in a row. Hopefully she can destress a little bit.”

Morgan chuckled. “I don’t think that destressing will be an issue tonight,” a smirk grew on his face as he watched the three girls wander back to their table, drinks in hand.

“A beer for my love,” Penelope handed Morgan a bottle.

“Beer for Will, and club soda for you,” Grace handed the beer to Will, and the glass of club soda to JJ. Will took the drinks from her and set them on the table, and JJ rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t hide the grin on her face. 

\-------------------------------

When Reid and Hotch finally arrived, Grace was two shots in, and had dragged JJ onto the dance floor with her. She was swaying her hips and raking her hands through her hair, as she sang along to the song that was blasting over the speakers. Emily motioned to Hotch and Reid. Morgan had gone off to dance with a group of women, Garcia was too busy watching Morgan, so it was just Will and Emily at the table.

“Hey! You guys made it,” Emily smirked at them as they wandered towards her. “You’re just in time to watch the show,” she motioned to Grace and JJ

Hotch looked over at the familiar women on the dance floor. Grace had grabbed JJ’s hands and was trying to make her dance with her. “Yeah it looks that way,” his lips turned up in the slightest ghost of a smile.

“Hey, uh, I didn’t know that she was going to be here?” Reid licked his lips nervously and shoved his hands in his pockets. He wasn’t sure how to feel. On one hand, he was excited to see her again, on the other, he felt as though things would be uncomfortable, or like she wouldn't want to see him. He watched her dance with JJ for a few moments before turning back to Emily.

“Reid, relax, that was over a year ago. She isn’t mad at you,” Emily’s voice was soft and reassuring.

JJ directed her attention to her fiance, and saw that the rest of her team had arrived. “Grace, come on, Hotch and Reid are here,” she grabbed Grace’s hand and started to lead her out of the crowd. Grace did a little dance as she and JJ maneuvered their way back to their table.

“Hey! Oh my god, you’re here!” Grace’s entire face lit up upon catching sight of Reid. She pulled him into a quick hug, and then turned to Hotch to shake his hand. “Hey Hotch, how’s Jack?”

“He’s been doing well,” Hotch seemed genuinely pleased and calm. Reid, on the other hand, seemed a little tense. He was definitely taken back by her warm reaction. JJ leaned over to Reid. “She’s a little tipsy,” her voice was hushed, but Reid could hear her smirk. He let out a short noise of understanding. 

Reid cleared his throat. “So, uh, Grace, how are you feeling?” Even though he had to yell to be heard over the music, his voice was soft, like he couldn’t be too loud or she would shatter.

“I’m doing amazing, Dr. Reid. So nice of you to join us, I didn’t know if you would come,” She seemed happy, but there was a tone of something hidden in her voice, below the almost undetectable slur of her words. Reid couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Why didn’t you think I would come?” He cocked his head to the right and crossed his arms. Why was her face so hard to read?

“Because this really isn’t your thing, I just didn’t think that you would want to,” Grace shrugged. 

“Yeah, I, uh, I guess you’re right about that,” He furrowed his brows slightly.

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out, Reid,” She playfully poked him in the chest. A grin kept across her face and her eyes lit up. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by a gasp and a squeal as the next song started to play. 

“Oh my god, Emily we have to go dance right now,” she grabbed Emily’s wrist and started to pull her towards the dance floor. She turned to Reid before she left, and looked up at him with pleading eyes. “Spencer come dance with us.”

Reid’s face softened at the mention of his name, but his shoulders tightened at the prospect of being dragged into the middle of a group of sweaty, drunk people. He shook his head no, and Grace’s face fell a little bit. Then, she and Emily were gone. 

He felt a strong hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see Morgan. “Man what is wrong with you? You just turned down the opportunity to dance with a beautiful girl,” Morgan studied Reid’s face. Morgan could never understand what was going on up in that big brain. 

Reid cleared his throat and shifted awkwardly. “I’m going to get a drink,” he avoided Morgan’s gaze as he moved towards the bar. JJ and Morgan shared a look before Morgan shook his head and made his way back over to the group of women he had been dancing with. 

Reid had made his way back to his group, drink in hand. Penelope and JJ were giggling about something, but they quickly regained their compositions as Reid came closer.

“So, was seeing her again so terrible, Spence?” JJ smirked at him. Reid huffed. 

“You could have at least told me that she was coming, I feel like an idiot,” his eyes drifted over to watch Grace and Emily dance. “She looks happy.” 

“Yeah, I think that she is. She’s been overexerting herself lately but I don’t think I can make her stop doing that,” JJ watched Grace fondly. Grace’s face was flushed a light pink, her hair was disheveled, and she had the biggest smile that JJ had seen on her since her sister died.

Upon noticing that she had an audience, she started to perform to them. She exaggerated all of her dance moves, and lip synched to the lyrics as the song rang through the heavy air of the club.

“Ohh I wanna dance with somebody,” she dramatically clutched her chest as she looked at the group. “I wanna feel the heat with somebody,” she grabbed Emily with one hand, and put the back of her other hand to her forehead in a very dramatic gesture. “Ohhh I wanna dance with somebody,” she made eye contact with Reid and gave him an alluring smile. “With somebody who loves me,” she kept eye contact with him for a moment before returning her focus to Emily and the music. 

Reid felt a shiver go down his spine and his face flushed. What was that? He knew that she had just been putting on a show for the group, but why had she made eye contact with him?

“It definitely appears that she’s doing better,” Hotch sounded amused. 

JJ groaned and let out a lighthearted giggle. “She’s so dramatic.”

“JJ, has she put any more thought into her plans after graduation?” Hotch moved his focus to his blonde coworker. 

“You’re not the first person to ask that tonight,” JJ took a sip of her club soda. “Morgan asked her earlier, and she said that she wasn’t sure yet, Morgan didn’t press any further. I think that she’s just scared of being rejected.” Hotch nodded in silent agreement.

“I’ll try talking to her about it, she really doesn’t have anything to worry about, she’s smart enough and intuitive enough to pass the entry exams,” his voice was level. 

JJ nodded. “That would be great, thank you Hotch,” she gave him a kind smile. 

———————————-

Grace and Reid were left alone at the table. JJ and Will had gone to dance with Penelope and Morgan, and Hotch and Emily had left them to play darts. The effects of the tequila shots Grace had downed earlier, took hold of her a lot faster than she had planned, so she was trying to sober herself up a bit with water. The last thing she needed was to be hungover on her drive home. 

Reid shifted his weight uncomfortably. “So, uh…” 

“I’m not upset with you,” Grace looked up at him. “You know that, right?” Her tone wasn’t accusatory.

Reid swallowed, and licked his lips. “Yeah, I know.”

Grace scanned his face. “Then why are you acting so distant?” she frowned. “Spencer, it was a year ago, and I was never mad in the first place. You don’t have to tiptoe around me,” she touched his arm gently.

Reid opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted when Grace took a step back and spoke again. “Let’s go do a shot together, you need to relax. I won’t take no for an answer either” she smirked at him. “You already denied me a dance with my favorite genius.”

Reid couldn’t object before she dragged him over to the bar and ordered 2 shots of tequila. Grace handed Reid his shot, and gave him a huge, shiteating grin. “Bottoms up, Dr. Reid.” She clinked her glass to his, and she threw back the shot. Reid hesitated, and then threw his back as well. He coughed and grimaced, and Grace let out a melodious laugh. Reid couldn’t help but blush. She looked beautiful like this, smiling, carefree. He had always found her attractive, it was impossible not to. She had big, blue eyes, with long eyelashes. She had nice cheekbones, but her face was still youthful and a little round. She was petite, but she had slight curves and a small waist. Her hair was just past her shoulders. The last time he had seen her, it was down to her mid back, and was blonde. Now, it was a light brown.

“Why are you staring at me? Is my makeup smudged?” Grace cocked an eyebrow at Reid. Reid’s face flushed.

“No, uh, I just…” he coughed awkwardly. “Did you know that one serving of alcohol can be fully absorbed into the bloodstream within 30 minutes after consumption? The body metabolises blood at about 0.25 ounces per hour. This varies person to person, however, as gender, weight, age, and stomach contents all contribute to how quickly alcohol affects a drinker.” Reid quickly changed the subject.

“Thank you, Dr. Reid, I’ll remember that before I inevitably take another shot,” she nudged him with her shoulder. “I’m really glad that you came tonight, I missed you and your big brain.”

Reid smiled softly. “Yeah me too. I’m sorry that I never reached out,” his voice was quiet, like he was ashamed and could only let her hear.

Grace’s face fell ever so slightly. “Hey, come on, you know that you didn’t need to… It wasn’t your obligation,” she crossed her arms. The silence between them was heavy. The deafening noise all around her made her chest tighten. She needed a way out of this, now. 

“Dance with me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading! leave some kudos and a comment if you want to see more!!


	3. Dance With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace gets tipsy, she makes reid dance with her. What could go wrong?
> 
> TITLE SONG: Promiscuous by Nelly Furtado

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not the biggest fan of this chapter but oh well, enjoy kiddos. really love how awkward i made everyone, though :P

“Dance with me”, Grace blurted out. Spencer looked taken aback.

“What?” He cocked his head. 

“Come on, please? Let yourself live a little for once,” she gave him her best puppy dog eyes. Reid knew that he couldn’t argue with her, she was far too headstrong.

“Just… one dance, that’s it,” Reid sighed, a small grin threatened to expose his secret relief. Dancing wasn’t his forte, but it was nice to see her happy. He extended his hand to her.

Grace lit up like a christmas tree, and took Reid’s hand. She led him to the middle of the dance floor and let the music take her over. Reid didn’t recognize the song, but Grace clearly knew it very well. 

Her hips moved fluidly, and she put her arms above her head. She felt her stress leaving her again. Under normal circumstances, she would have been tense dancing with Reid. While she may not still have feelings for him, she still found him attractive, and a little bit intimidating. She admired his intelligence, and his kindness. He was never took his pain out on others, and never blamed anyone for the things he had seen and experienced. 

She looked over at him and saw that he wasn’t really dancing, just awkwardly swaying. 

“Reid, come on, at least try to pretend like you’re enjoying yourself,” her hips continued to move as she shouted over the music.

“I’m trying, I really don’t dance,” he winced. Before he could think, Grace grabbed him by his dark blue tie and pulled him close to her. He let out a quiet yelp. Grace put her hand on the back of his neck and stepped close to him. 

“Just move with me, listen to the music and follow it, don’t think so much,” Grace leaned up and spoke near his ear. Even with her short heels, he towered over her. Reid gulped and tried to copy her movements. He was rigid, and didn’t know what to do with his hands, but he looked less awkward than he did a few moments ago. Grace picked up on his uncertainty, and moved one of his hands to her side. 

Grace giggled and started to sing along with the song.

“Promiscuous girl, wherever you are, I’m all alone and it’s you that I want,” she closed her eyes and threw her head back, a wide smile on her plush lips. “Promiscuous boy, you already know that I’m all yours, what are you waiting for?” 

Penelope saw the two from the other side of the dancefloor and her jaw dropped.

“Oh my god....” She gawked at them. 

“What, what’s going on?” Morgan turned around fast. He caught sight of them as well and laughed. ‘“My man!” He couldn’t believe the sight in front of him. Grace and Reid were very close. Reid’s head had dipped down towards Grace’s ear, and Grace’s hand on the back of his neck didn’t seem like it was going anywhere. 

“JJ, please get a load of this,” Morgan nudged her.

“Oh she’s going to hate me for letting her do that tomorrow,” she let her mouth fall open as she laughed. 

“I never knew that Reid had game,” Penelope couldn’t tear her eyes away from them. “Should we go over to them?”

“Nah, let’s let ‘em have a minute. This might be Reid’s only encounter with the opposite sex,” Morgan joked.

Reid’s face was burning. She was so close to him, almost too close. They were friends, kind of, but this wasn’t friendly. This was new territory. Maybe it was just the alcohol, that was probably it. He was a lightweight and he didn’t drink often, and he was certain that Grace had too much for her small physique to handle. 

The song felt like it lasted forever. Once it had ended, and a new one began, they lingered for a moment. Grace’s touch started to move away from Dr. Reid, and some part deep inside of him missed the contact. Grace’s lips brushed by his ear.

“Thank you,” her voice was barely audible, and it made Reid shiver.

They heard a cough, and they turned to see Penelope and Morgan standing behind them. Reid quickly stepped back from Grace and turned a bright shade of red. Grace was too drunk to be embarrassed. 

“Hey, I missed you,” she hugged Penelope.

“I saw you earlier, sugar,” she chuckled. “Let’s get you some water.”

“No, I wanna dance some more, then I’ll get water,” the slur in her voice slowly becoming more audible. She grabbed Penelope’s hands and started to sway. 

“Fine, one song, and then we’re going to get you sobered up,” Penelope patted the top of Grace’s hand. 

“So pretty boy, you and Grace, huh?” Morgan nudged Reid. He turned an even darker shade of red.

“Shut up,” his jaw and shoulders tensed up. Morgan chuckled and ruffled Reid’s long hair.

Grace twirled around with Penelope, paying no further attention to Reid. 

“So what was that?” Morgan cocked an eyebrow. 

“I don’t know!” Reid’s voice came out higher than he wanted it to. “One minute we were talking, and the next minute Grace had convinced me to do a shot with her and she had dragged me over here,” he groaned. “She’s intoxicated, she isn’t even in her normal state of mind right now. Alcohol inhibits brain function.” 

Morgan rolled his eyes and signed. “Whatever you say, kid. Just remember that even when you’re drunk, you have an idea of what you’re doing,” he made his way over to Grace and Penelope, and danced with them. 

Reid made his way off of the dance floor and got himself a glass of water. He saw Emily and wandered over to her. 

“Hey, having fun yet?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“Yeah, uh, kind of,” he furrowed his brows. “I took a shot and danced?”

Emily raised her eyebrows. “Oh? That’s very out of character for you. Were either of those decisions swayed by a certain friend of a coworker?”

Reid opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by JJ as she and Will walked over. “I can’t believe that she dragged you into that, Spence. She can be very... persuasive, when she’s drunk.” 

“Yeah I can see that,” a lopsided grin surfaced on his face. “I don’t think that I couldn’t have said no her, even if I wanted to.”

Emily and JJ shared a knowing look. “So you wanted to?” Emily smirked. Reid flushed.

“No,” he paused for a moment and then swallowed hard after he realized what he said. “I mean yes! I…. It’s not like it was my suggestion, or anything I would have done on my own, but…”

“But what?” JJ pushed gently.

“It was nice to see her enjoying herself, I’m glad that I could help with that,” his face softened   
JJ put her hand on his arm. “Thank you, Spence, she really needed that.” 

Spencer cleared his throat as Penelope and Morgan led Grace to their table.

“Someone was getting a little handsy out there,” Penelope cupped her hand to the side of her mouth and cracked a grin and motioned to the drunk woman next to her.

“That’s so unfair, I was not,” Grace pouted. Her words slurred together, and her eyes drooped a little bit like she was tired. “I was just dancing with that guy like I was dancing with Spencer, I was being friendly,” she giggled as she saw Reid’ half-shocked, half-mortified face. “Don’t worry Dr. Reid, you’re still my favorite dance partner.”

JJ rolled her eyes. “Let’s get you sobered up, I think you need some water,” she put her hand on Grace’s back and guided her to the bar. 

“JJ, I’m not even that drunk, just a little tipsy. Lemme have some fun,” the younger woman groaned. 

“Sure, Sofs, just a little tipsy. Can we get some water please?” She signaled the bartender. She looked back over at Grace and saw how sleepy she looked. “And maybe some coffee?”

After she was sure that Grace was properly hydrated, they walked back over to their friends. Grace was holding two cups of coffee, and when she was near Reid, she held one out to him. 

“Coffee, Dr. Reid?” Her smile was warm and inviting. For the third time that night, he couldn’t say no to her. 

“Sure, thank you,” Reid shot her a lopsided grin. Grace felt her face flush. She still found him attractive. He looked older than the last time they had seen each other. The circles under his eyes were darker, his hair was longer, and his cheekbones were even more defined, if that was possible. He still looked much younger than he was, but something about him made him look aged. Grace assumed that it was stress. 

“Um,” Grace looked away from him and brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear. She took a large sip of coffee. 

“Not to be a party pooper, but I think that Will and I are going to head out. Having a human growing inside of you drains your energy,” JJ chuckled and put her hand on her evergrowing stomach.

“I think that I’m going to head out too, you never know when we’re going to be called back int work,” Emily crossed her arms. Morgan and Hotch nodded in agreement.   
“Yeah I agree with Prentiss, I think it’s time to call it a night. Garcia, what about you?” Morgan crossed his arms. 

“Yeah, I think that it’s time to get this little angel home,” she nodded to Grace. “Reid, do you want a ride back to your apartment?”

“Uh, yeah that would be great, thanks Garcia,” Reid nodded. 

“Well, I’m glad that we all decided to do this,” Hotch looked at his team. “Grace, it was nice seeing you again,” he extended his hand to her. She took it gingerly and smiled at him.

Morgan wrapped his arms around Grace in a tight hug and planted a kiss on the top of her head. “Next time, don’t wait so long to visit us again, okay kid?” 

Grace leaned into the hug. “Of course not, Morgan, you can’t get rid of me that easily.” 

Emily was the next to embrace her. “Take care of yourself, Grace. And don’t hesitate to reach out, I’m only a phone call away.”

“I know, thank you Emily,” Grace gave her an extra squeeze. 

The group of adults exited the booming club, and stepped into the brisk night air. Grace shivered.

The team said their goodbyes, and drove off. JJ squeezed Grace’s hand and brushed her hair away from her face. “Promise me that you’ll take care of yourself, Sofs? I don’t want you to burn yourself out,” her voice was soft and comforting. 

Tears pricked at Grace’s eyes, threatening to spill out at any moment. “I will, I promise.” Her answer was sincere. She hated knowing that she was making her friend worry. She threw her arms around JJ and almost collapsed into her. “Thank you, I needed this,” tears started to flow down her plush cheeks.

JJ rubbed circles into Grace’s back. She knew that she was thanking her for more than just the weekend. “Oh come on, you know that I only put up with you so I can get free coffee and baked goods,” Grace could hear JJ’s smile.

Grace pulled away and wiped her tears away. “Yeah, obviously.”

She and JJ finally parted as they walked to their seperate cars. 

“Reid, you can sit in the front,” Grace’s eyes felt heavy as she opened the door to the backseat behind the driver’s side of Penelope’s car. He looked at Garcia, who shrugged, and then he climbed into the passenger’s seat. Penelope started the car up, and started their drive to Reid's apartment. 

“So,” Penelope looked over at Reid. “That sexy little moment on the dance floor… Care to explain what that was about?” She wiggled her eyebrows at him.

Reid’s cheeks turned a bright red. “Garcia, she’s right there!” His voice came out as a squeak. He turned back to the woman in the back seat, and saw that she had fallen asleep.

“Relax sugar, she always falls asleep on the car ride home after she drinks,” she adjusted her mirror to look at Grace. “Oh, bless her heart.”

Reid licked his lips and furrowed his brows. “Oh.” He paused for a moment. “She was drunk, nothing happened. She said herself, she was being friendly.”

Penelope frowned. “Honey, I’ve never seen friends dance like that.”

“Garcia, there’s nothing to talk about, we’re friends,” he let out a loud sigh. He couldn’t understand why everyone was so interested in it. Nothing happened, they just danced together like friends do. He didn’t know why it had made everyone so worked up.

They sat in silence the rest of the ride, the only noise to be heard was the soft snoring from the back seat. When they arrived at Reid’s apartment building, Penelope parked the car, and turned back to Grace. 

“We should wake her up, she’ll want to say goodbye to you,” her voice was hushed. “Plus, I don’t think that su can get her out of my car by myself.”

Reid swallowed and nodded in agreement. Penelope gave him a look as if to say ‘im not waking her up’, and Reid sighed. He turned around in his seat, and reached back to Grace. He put his large hand on her leg, and shook it gently.

Grace stirred, and slowly opened her eyes. “Penelope are we back at your place?” She yawned

“No, uh, we’re actually at my apartment.” Reid licked his lips. 

“Oh,” Grace looked up at Reid and gave him a tired smile. “I’ll get out to say goodbye to you, and then steal your spot.” She unbuckled her seat belt and slid out of the car. Reid followed suit and walked over to meet her behind the car. 

“Thank you for tonight, I know that wasn’t really your thing, and I pushed you, but I’m glad that you went along with my drunk antics,” Grace crossed her arms and rubbed her bare biceps and shoulders with her hands. She felt a shiver rush over her and her teeth clattered. 

“Yeah, uh, I should really be the one thanking you,” his face scrunched up a little bit and he bit his plush bottom lip between his perfect teeth. “I needed to be pushed out of my comfort zone a little bit. It’s very important for brain development to be able to get through uncomfortable situations.” He paused and dropped his head. He put his hand on the back of his neck and smirked. “Plus, I had fun.” 

Grace smiled sweetly and shrugged. “I know, I’m great company,” she nudged his arm.

The silence between them felt a little heavy, but neither of them knew what else to say. 

After what felt like minutes, finally Reid spoke up. “If you ever have any problems, you can call me anytime. I know that I’m not the first person that you would confide in, given your options, but I care about you and want to know that you’re okay. Not hearing from you for a year was worrying.” He swallowed hard.

Grace let out a shaky sigh. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you. If it makes you feel any better, Penelope and Emily had a hard time reaching me, too. It wasn’t anything that you did, I just needed to shut down for a little bit.” She looked down at the ground. 

Reid opened his mouth to speak, but couldn’t find the words. He put a gentle hand on her shoulder, and she nuzzled her face down into his touch. He slowly pulled away, and she followed his touch for a moment, before stepping back. 

“I’ll call you when I get back home to let you know that I didn’t get into a car accident or get shot or something crazy like that,” her voice was quiet and gentle. 

Reid nodded. “Okay, uh, thank you,” he shoved his hands into his pockets. “Don’t overexert yourself.”

Grace’s expression softened. “Make sure that you done either, Spencer,” she reached up and touched his face. “When was the last time you got some good rest?” As she moved her hand, she brushed some of his hair away from his face. Reid shivered.

“I should get back to Penelope, I don’t want her driving home too late,” Grace looked up at him. Reid swallowed and nodded.

“Yeah, uh, I should go upstairs and get some sleep,” he bit his lip. “Goodnight, Grace. Don’t stay away for so long, next time.”

Grace smiled at him. “Goodnight, Spencer.” They stepped away from each other, and Grace walked back to Penelope’s car. She got in, and dropped her head down onto the top of the glove box compartment. Penelope shot her a look.

“So you guys were out there for a long time,” she cocked an eyebrow. “What happened?”

Grace groaned and buried her face into her hands. “Nothing happened, I’m just an idiot.”

“Oh honey, you aren’t an idiot. You’re tired and still a little drunk.” Penelope put her hand on Grace’s back. “Come on, let’s get you home and into bed.”

—————————

Grace couldn’t even remember getting back to Penelope’s place last night, let alone falling asleep. She sat up slowly, and was immediately thrown into full consciousness when she became aware of how much her head was pounding. So much for not being hungover. 

She stood up and scanned the apartment for Penelope. When she didn’t see her, she made her way to the kitchen. She noticed a post it note on the fridge. It read: Hey sugar, had to leave early for an emergency case. Feel free to raid the fridge!

Grace smiles fondly and took out her phone to text Penelope. 

‘thanks for letting me crash with you, see you again soon :)’

Grace grabbed a protein bar and a banana on her way out. She locked Penelope’s door with the spare, and then slid the key back under the door. 

She hopped into her car, put her sunglasses on, and started her drive home. She turned the radio on and sang along loudly. She felt like shit, but she was in the best mood that she had felt in months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> same deal as always!! please leave some kudos and some comments!!


	4. Secret Ingredients and Perms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little kind-of-Christmas chapter! Grace makes coffee for Reid, Grace gives JJ an old photo album and the gang has fun looking at it. No one drinks in this chapter!! Wow!
> 
> TITLE SONGS: Photograph by Ringo Starr and All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys! i hope that you enjoy this chapter. sorry that it took so long for me to get out, i got really bad writer's block, hated this chapter, wanted to skip it, but didn't want to screw up my planned storyline. i wrote like,,, 6000 words today? starting the next chapter now, it'll have much more reid and grace interaction in it so i'm excited to share it with you guys!

Grace had barely stepped into the door when her phone rang. She closed the door behind her and checked the caller ID. It wasn’t a number on her phone. She listened to her phone ring a few times so she quirked an eyebrow and answered hesitantly. 

“Hello?”

“Hey, uh, sorry, I realized that you didn’t have my number so I got your number from Garcia,” Reid’s voice sounded timid on the other end of the phone. 

“Oh, hey Spencer,” she let out a sigh of relief. “It’s fine. What’s up?” Salem rubbed against Grace’s leg, and she crouched down to pet her needy cat.

“Oh, uh… I was just… uh, calling to make sure that you made it home safe,” Reid stammered. Grace let out a breathy chuckle.

“Thank you for your concern, Dr. Reid. I’m still alive and well, you can’t get rid of me that easily,” she walked into her living room and slumped down onto the couch. “So, are you guys working a case right now?”

“Yeah, we’re on the jet right now. We’re flying to Seattle to deal with a serial killer who’s been dead for a year. His DNA has been linked with the current string of murders and we aren’t sure how or why,” Reid perked up at the mention of a case.

“Huh… wait how is his dna linked if he’s dead?” Grace furrowed her eyebrows in thought. 

“I don’t think that you want to know,” Reid grimaced.

“Oh…. oh my god, that’s so gross,” Grace’s face scrunched with disgust.

“Yeah it isn’t a pleasant thought,” he shook his head. Grace heard Hotch say something on Reid’s end of the call. “I have to go, we’re about to go over the case file again.”

“Bye Dr. Reid, be safe.” Grace smiled softly as she rubbed her hands over her corduroy couch. 

“I will, bye,” Reid grinned as he hung up the phone. 

“Who were you talking to?” Emily looked up from her copy of the case file.

“It was Grace, I was checking in to make sure that she got home safe,” Reid picked up his own case file and opened it.

“Look at you, pretty boy. ‘Just friends’ my ass,” Morgan snickered. Reid flushed a light pink.

“She is just a friend!” His voice squeaked. “Come on JJ, back me up on this.”

JJ grinned. “I don’t know Reid, I’m her friend and I haven’t called her today,” she shrugged and looked over at Emily. “What about you, Emily? Have you heard from her today?”

Emily shrugged her shoulders and smirked. “Nope, I haven’t talked to her.”

Reid turned an even brighter shade of pink, and buried himself in his case file. After they felt like they had embarrassed him enough, JJ and Emily started giggling. 

“We’re just messing with you Reid,” JJ reached out to him and ruffled his shaggy hair. “I think that it’s really sweet that you checked in on her, I’m glad that she has a friend like you.”

———————-

It had been almost a month since Grace last saw her favorite BAU team. She hadn’t abandoned her promise that she made, she was planning on visiting Quantico as soon as winter break started. 

She only had one more final to take for her Social Science in Law course, and then she was free until January 16th. 

She was going to fly home to Minnesota, spend two weeks there with her mom, catch up with some old friends, and then drive back down to Virginia, where she would spend the remainder of her break going back and forth between Quantico and her apartment in Charlottesville. She would make a pit stop at her father’s house on the drive back to Virginia, probably only staying for a day or two. 

She wasn’t especially close with her father anymore, but she knew that it was still important to see him. They talked on the phone a few times a month, and she saw him during holidays and when he came down to visit her, which wasn’t often. 

Grace let out a loud sigh and tossed a sweatshirt into her suitcase. The black bundle of fur on her bed let out a soft meow. “Holidays would be so much easier if I could just stay here with you,” she scratched Salem behind her ears. 

Grace stood up and walked over to her closet. She opened the doors and started to grab a few shirts and sweaters that she planned on shoving in her suitcase. Holidays were the worst time of year for her. After her dad left, it was just Grace and her mom. They were both grieving Haley when her dad took off with a younger woman, and the grief and denial her mom had to go through almost destroyed her relationship with her daughter. It was an incredibly hard time for her and her mom, and the holidays were just a brutal reminder of the pain they suffered through. 

Grace folded her clothes and put them in her suitcase. She zipped it up, and checked the time on her phone. Shit, if she didn’t leave now she would be late for her shift at the coffee shop she worked at. She rushed to the door, grabbed her wallet and keys, hastily slipped her shoes on, and sprinted downstairs to her car. She zoomed to work, and made it just before her shift started. What a way to kick off the holiday season.

—————————-

The drive back to Virginia was uneventful, but a good time to destress from the previous events. The time spent with her mom was very nice, and was probably the best pre-christmas celebration that she had since Haley died. They went through old photo albums, talked, baked together, and watched movies. Grace had also been able to see some of her friends from high school, which was a refreshing change of pace from her daily life. 

Seeing her dad was a completely different story. His wife threw a fit about Grace coming to visit, and refused to speak with her the entire time that she was there. Her father tried to relieve some of the tension, but all of his efforts failed. She was left feeling uncomfortable and miserable the entire time that she was there. 

She didn’t have the energy to think about that now, though. She was on her way to see some of her closest friends, and she knew that being with them would alleviate her stress. Grace reached for the radio in her car and turned the volume up. Natasha Bedingfields voice sang through her radio and Grace immediately perked up.

“Oh my god I love this song,” she all but cheered.

“I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine, I got a love and I know that it’s all my own, ohhh.” She sang loudly and bobbed her head along to the music. She could feel her tension melting as she got into the music. When the chorus came along, she was almost screaming. 

“Take me away, a secret place, a sweet escape, take me away!” She rolled her windows down, not caring that it was winter. This was the catharsis that she had been looking for, needing, for the last few months. 

When the song faded out and the next one started, Grace turned the radio down again and rolled her windows up, having become suddenly aware of how cold her car had gotten. She was nearing her exit, so she worked to bring her energy level back down to something that would be suitable to show in public. 

Finally she pulled up to JJ and Will’s house. She hopped out of the car gleefully and strode up to their front door. She was immediately met with a pair of arms thrown around her shoulders. 

“Penelope, what are you doing here?” Grace could do little to suppress her amusement.

“JJ told us that you were on your way, and we’re off the clock, so we thought that we would surprise you!” She grinned from ear to ear. 

Grace quirked an eyebrow “We?” Her train of thought was interrupted by some familiar voices and faces.

“Hey you made it!” Emily wrapped her in a tight hug. As soon as Emily’s arms left, they were replaced by JJ’s. 

Grace giggled and melted into JJ’s hug. “Hey guys, good to see you all.” She pulled away from JJ and looked at the smiling women in front of her. “So, anyone else I should be expecting to see when I enter the LaMontagne-Jareau household?” She tried to peek in the doorway.

“Boy Genius is here, if that’s what you’re asking,” Penelope snickered.

“No guys come on, I didn’t mean it like that,” Grace’s face flushed. “I have some gifts for you guys and I figured I would give them to you now if you were all here.”

“Uh-huh, sure, great cover up,” Emily smirked. 

“Okay can we please go inside now? It’s cold,” Grace started to push past her friends, trying her best to divert the attention from herself. 

She stepped inside and bumped into someone. She looked up and her breath hitched.

“Oh, hi,” Grace’s face flushed when she saw that it had been Reid who she had basically ran into at full speed. “I’m so sorry, I…. I didn’t mean to uh…”

Reid grinned at her sheepishly. “Hey, uh… It’s okay,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “How was your drive?”

Grace waved her hand casually. “It was pretty uneventful. Kinda long, but it gave me time to process some things.” She smiled up at Reid.

Grace heard a cough behind her, and turned to face Emily, Penelope, and JJ. 

“Oh I’m sure that you wanted to come in because you were cold,” Emily smirked. 

Grace’s face turned a bright red and her mouth opened. 

“Hey, didn’t you say that you had presents for us?” JJ jumped in, trying to save Grace from some embarrassment.

“Presents?” Reid perked up and cocked his head.

“Oh, right! They’re in my car, I’ll grab them,” she hastily walked back outside and to her car. She grabbed the presents and hurried back inside. 

“Penelope, this one’s for you,” Grace handed Penelope a box wrapped in metallic pink wrapping paper. She handed a navy blue present with red ribbon tied around it to Emily. “This is your present,” she smiled. She handed two light blue presents adorned with gold bows to JJ. “These are for you and Will.” She looked at the remaining present in her hand. It was wrapped in light brown paper, and had twine wrapped around it. “And this is for you,” she handed the present to Reid bashfully. His fingers grazed her’s as he took the present from her. 

“I have a gift receipt for it, if uh… well… you’ll see I guess,” she locked eyes with him, and then crossed her arms in front of her chest as she looked away. “Don’t open them yet, guys, they’re Christmas gifts, after all.”

Reid and Penelope groaned. “Come on, sugar, you can’t give me a present and not expect me to open it!” Penelope pleaded.

“It’s only the 23rd, you guys can wait a few more days!” Grace rolled her eyes at the pair. 

JJ led them all to her living room, where they sat down on her couch and chairs. Grace leaned against a wall and watched everyone, a smile threatening to creep onto her face as she watched her friends laugh and joke. Reid looked over at her with a confused expression. 

“I was stuck sitting in my car for almost 10 hours, it feels really nice to stand,” Grace shrugged.

“Oh speaking of that, how was it seeing your mom and dad?” Emily turned her attention to the standing woman.

Grace sighed and crossed her arms. “Well, seeing my mom was nice. I think that we had the best time together since…” she trailed off and watched everyone’s expressions fall. She coughed and stood up a little straighter. “Anyways, it’s always nice to see her. My dad, on the other hand,” she shook her head. “Caroline threw a huge fit when I got there, apparently my dad didn’t tell her I was coming. Things were a little awkward,” she cracked a half-smile.

“Oh honey I’m so sorry,” Penelope gave her a worried look. 

“Oh, don’t be. I was only there for a day so I didn’t suffer long!” Grace shrugged and grinned. “I cared about it a lot more when I was younger, now I think that it’s kind of funny.” Grace said nonchalantly. She gave a little stretch and yawned. “Hey JJ, do you still have the French press I gave you?”

“Yeah it’s in the kitchen. You can go lay in the guest bedroom if you’re feeling tired,” JJ frowned.

“No, I’m fine, coffee will do the trick. Anyone else want some?” Grace scanned the room. Emily nodded and raised her hand slightly. 

“Yeah I’ll have some,” Reid stood up from the chair he had been occupying. “Do you want any help?”

Grace shrugged. “Sure, if you want to help you can,” Grace turned and walked towards the kitchen. She could hear Christmas music floating through the room, and she wandered to the radio near the wall. She turned the volume up and started to sing along to the song quietly. 

She swayed gently as she searched the kitchen for the French press, coffee grounds, and mugs. She heard Reid clear his throat behind her.

“What can I do to help?” He shifted his weight awkwardly.

“Oh, can you grab three mugs for me? And milk?” She turned around to face him, French press in hand. She set the French press down on the counter and moved past him to grab the coffee grounds. “Hey JJ? Do you have a tea kettle?” She leaned into the living room.

“Yeah, it should be in the second cabinet to the left, on the bottom shelf,” JJ leaned back in her chair to look at Grace as she spoke. Grace nodded and made her way to the cabinet. She retrieved the kettle, and filled it with water. 

She hummed along to White Christmas as she set the kettle on the stove. Reid set the cups and milk down on the counter and watched her for a moment. She seemed so relaxed, finally able to exhale after holding her breath for so long. She was still holding tension, though, and her eyes were tired. It didn’t take a profiler to see how exhausted she was, mentally and physically. 

Reid stepped towards her. “Maybe you should go lie down for a little bit, I can make coffee,” his voice was soft, and his eyebrows were furrowed. 

“What? No, I’m not even that tired,” her face scrunched up a little bit. “Besides, I want to do this. I need to keep myself busy.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you, you just seem… tired,” Reid swallowed and studied her face with careful eyes. 

“Spencer, please, I promise that I’m okay,” she sighed and turned her attention to the kettle on the stovetop. “Besides, I make coffee for a living, I promise that it’ll taste better than what you make.” She smirked at him.

“She’s right, her coffee is way better than yours,” Penelope walked into the kitchen and poked Reid in the arm. “JJ wanted me to tell you two that Will is on his way home, and that Derek is coming over. We’re having a little Christmas get together while we have some time away from bloody murder.” Penelope shuddered. 

Grace grinned and rolled her eyes. “I guess that means you get to open your present tonight.”

“Oh wow funny how that works,” Penelope chuckled and clapped her hands together. “I’ll leave you two alone to finish making your delicious coffee.” She turned and left the kitchen. 

Grace poured coffee grounds into the French press, and waited for the water to boil. Grace opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it and stood silently, deciding the best way to bring up what she was about to say. Finally she turned to Reid and spoke.  
“So, JJ told me about the hostage situation at the cult. Are you okay?” Grace bit her lip and furrowed her eyebrows.

“Oh… uh… yeah, I’m okay. You should really talk to Emily about it, she was the one who got beat up,” Reid licked his lips, trying to divert attention from himself. 

“I already talked to Emily about it. I called her right after I found out,” Grace looked at the floor. “I’m sorry that I didn’t reach out to you. I was worried but I wasn’t sure how to talk with you about it.” Her voice got quiet.

“Grace…” Reid reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. I’ve been in much worse situations.” 

“Sorry, I know,” Grace let out an exasperated sigh. “I just…” she turned away from him and grabbed the kettle from the stove. “Never mind.”

Reid frowned, but didn’t protest. He knew better than to try to push Grace to open up. Grace poured the water in the French press and walked over to the spice rack in the corner of the kitchen. She reached out to grab a few containers, but stopped herself. 

“Close your eyes and turn around,” she turned to Reid. 

“What? Why?” He cocked his head. Grace walked over to him and started to forcibly turn him around. 

“Because you aren’t allowed to know the secret ingredients of my perfect coffee! Then they wouldn’t be a secret!” She huffed as she kept trying to make him turn around. He was sturdier than he looked.

Reid threw his hands up in defeat. “Okay, fine!” He could barely keep a chuckle in as he turned around and closed his eyes. Grace grinned and scurried over to the spice rack. She grabbed her secret ingredients, and set them on the counter. She promptly pushed down the French press and let it sit for a moment, before she poured the coffee into the mugs, followed by some milk, and the spices. She gingerly poured sugar into her coffee and Reid’s coffee, making sure to put extra in his. She cradled a mug in her hands, and held it out in front of her.

“Ta-da!! Coffee a la Grace,” she beamed as she watched Spencer turn around. He took the mug from her and smiled, amused by her excitement. He looked into the mug fondly, and Grace couldn’t help but giggle. “Don’t just stare at it, try it! I want to know if it lives up to the great Dr. Reid’s standards!”

Reid lifted the mug to his lips and took a sip. He sighed contently and took another big sip. Grace clasped her hands together and stood up on her tiptoes.

She leaned forward and gave him a toothy grin. “Sooooooo… what do you think?”

Reid chuckled. “I have to hand it to you, it’s really good.”

Grace pumped her fist into the air dramatically and giggled. “Yes! I cant believe that I finally achieved my life goal of impressing Dr. Reid,” she nudged his shoulder and grabbed the other two coffee mugs. “Come on, I have to deliver this beautiful coffee to Emily.” 

She brushed past him, coffee in hand, and walked into the living room with some extra pep in her step. She handed the mug to Emily, and sat down next to her on the couch. “Reid likes my coffee,” she set her own mug down on the coffee table in front of her and slumped down into the couch, grinning from ear to ear as she did so. 

JJ smirked. “Of course he does, your coffee is legendary.” She turned back to look at the skinny man lingering in the kitchen. “Hey, Spence, come sit down with us.”

Reid quickly realized that Penelope had taken his spot, so he walked over to the couch and plopped down beside Grace. The group of adults started talking about their most recent case, Grace listening intently and offering comedic relief. Will finally arrived home, and was met with lots of hugs. Derek Morgan arrived shortly after and received the same treatment.

Everyone was piled into the living room, laughing and joking. Christmas music floated through the house, and the room was filled with bright energy and lightheartedness. Grace looked around at everyone and felt tears welling in her big eyes. She was surrounded by people she loved, and she wouldn’t want it any other way. She wasn’t sure how she got so lucky in the friend department, but she felt so grateful.

She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, but not before Emily noticed. 

“Grace, are you okay?” Her voice was soft, as she wrapped an arm around the younger woman. 

“Yeah, I just feel really grateful to have all of you in my life,” she choked up and more tears started to spill from her eyes. Her friends let out noises of sympathy, and JJ and Penelope got up to hug her. 

“We’re really lucky to have you in our lives, sugar,” Penelope cooed and pushed Grace’s hair away from her face. 

When they moved away, she wiped her eyes again and huffed out a laugh. “Thanks, guys.” She looked around at everyone again and clapped her hands. “Well, Derek, I have a present for you in my car, I’ll be right back.” She stood up and stepped over Reid’s long legs, before making her way to the front door. Reid stood up behind her and did a little jog to catch up. The other adults in the room quirked their eyebrows, tilted their heads, and looked at each other in confusion. 

“JJ, please tell me that you have mistletoe somewhere in your house,” Penelope snickered.

JJ grinned. “Of course I do.”

Grace was a few feet out of the door before she realized that Reid was behind her. She jumped and gasped, and then relaxed when she saw that it was him. “Jesus, Spencer, you scared me,” she sighed as she reached into her purse to grab her keys. “What’s up?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, I just didn’t want you to be out here by yourself,” he admitted sheepishly.

“Spencer, it’s JJ and Will’s front yard. What’s gonna happen to me out here,” she rolled her eyes and opened the door to the backseat of her car. 

“Well, statistically speaking, a lot could happen!” He threw his hands up defensively. “You could be kidnapped, or killed, or assaulted, or attacked by a wild animal, though the chances of that are pretty slim,” he paused, then stepped towards her. 

“Reid, do you actually think that anything’s going to happen to me or did you come out here to lecture me,” she leaned into the car and grabbed the present. 

Reid licked his lips. “Are you okay?” 

Grace didn’t look at him. Instead, she closed the car door, and started to walk back to the house. “Of course I am, why does everyone keep asking me that?” 

“Grace, wait,” Reid grabbed her shoulder. She turned around and didn’t say anything. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it. I just… I’m really glad that you’re here.”

“I’m glad that I’m here too, I’m sorry for getting snappy with you,” Grace frowned. “Let’s go back inside, I have to give this to Morgan.” She held up the grey present and started to turn around again. 

“Okay, yeah,” Reid licked his lips again and followed her inside. 

“This is for you,” she handed the present to Morgan and watched his face light up. 

“Aw come on kid, you shouldn’t have. Get over here,” He wrapped his big arms around her and gave her a big squeeze.

“You guys can open them now, if you want to,” Grace crossed her arms and let a warm smile creep across her face. 

Penelope wasted no time in tearing the wrapping paper off of her present. She opened the box and pulled out a pair of chunky turquoise earrings. “Oh sugar these are PERFECT!” She squealed. 

Grace couldn’t help but laugh at her favorite tech goddess’ reaction to her gift. The rest of the gang tore open their presents in no time. When JJ opened her’s, she felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. She stared down at the photo album and tears spilled down her cheeks.

She picked it up off of her lap and began examining every page, taking in what was in front of her. She flipped through photos of her and Haley from college. She and Haley had made this photo album a week before they graduated, she hadn’t expected Haley to keep it even after she moved on and got a job and a real life. 

“How… where did you get this?” JJ’s voice was choked, her throat felt tight. 

Grace had started to cry the moment JJ unwrapped the photo album. “My mom finally let me go through Haley’s stuff,” she wiped her eyes and sniffled. “I thought that you should have it.” Grace had just barely gotten the words out of her mouth before JJ ran over to her and threw her arms around her. 

“Thank you,” the blonde woman sobbed. Grace couldn’t hold back her emotions any longer, and the two of them held each other and cried. 

When they had finally released everything they had bottled up for years, they pulled away from each other. JJ was immediately enveloped in strong arms as Will pulled her close to him and planted a kiss on the top of her head. He rubbed her stomach gently and she got as close to him as she could. 

Grace sat back down on the couch, and Emily wrapped an arm around her, and gently rubbed her biceps. Grace heard sniffling and looked over to see Penelope crying. 

“I’m sorry, I just get really emotional when other people are in pain,” she sobbed. Morgan quickly moved over to her and hugged her. Grace looked at the over emotional room and gave Emily a lopsided smile. “Sorry guys, didn’t mean to bring the room down like that. I feel like I’ve cried way too many times tonight.”

Reid was the first to speak up. “Crying is actually very healthy. It’s a natural way to reduce stress, and enhance your mood. Crying can also reduce physical and emotional pain,” he looked around the room and realized that he had been rambling. He licked his lips and turned to face the hurt woman beside him. “Uh… the point is that it’s okay to cry and be upset. You’re allowed to feel emotion and process it in a way that works for you.”

Grace nodded and touched Reid’s bicep. “Thank you, Spencer,” she looked up at his hazel eyes and smiled softly. She felt an undeniable urge to lean towards him, to be as close to him as she could be. She tried to shake the feelings off the best that she could, but hadn’t realized how long she had been touching Reid’s arm, or how long she had been looking at him. 

She quickly removed her hand and turned to face anyone else. Her cheeks burned.

Penelope and Morgan looked way too amused for her liking. Grace cleared her throat and stood up. “I’m gonna… um…” she bit her lip and looked around at everyone. “I’ll be right back.”

She walked out of the living room and towards the bathroom as quickly as she could. She closed the door behind her and took a deep breath before looking in the mirror. 

Her face was still flushed, and her eyes were puffy from crying. She pointed a finger at her reflection and scowled. “You need to get your shit together. We’re not doing this again.”

She heard a knock at the door followed by a woman’s voice. “Grace? Can I come in?”

“JJ I’m in the bathroom,” Grace cocked her head and crossed her arms.

“I know for a fact that you aren’t going to the bathroom, come on let’s talk,” JJ wiggled the door handle. 

Grace sighed and opened the door. “You know we could talk somewhere that isn't, I don’t know, the bathroom?” She stepped aside so JJ could meet her in the tight quarters. 

“Okay, spill,” JJ closed the door behind her and crossed her arms. “Why are you acting so weird around Reid.”

Grace felt her face flush and she waved her hand nonchalantly. “What do you mean? I’m acting totally normal!” She tried her best to lie, despite her obvious blush and unsteady voice.

JJ’s jaw dropped open. “Oh my god, you like him,” she playfully pushed Grace’s arm. 

“Oh my god, shut up! I don’t!” Grace pushed JJ’s arm. 

“Yes you do! You like him!” JJ giggled and started to poke Grace. “You like Reid!”

Grace stuck her fingers in her ears like a child and started making noises so she couldn’t hear JJ. “LALALA! Sorry! Can’t hear you!”

JJ continued to laugh and poke Grace. “Oh my god why didn’t you say anything earlier?” She pulled Grace’s fingers out of her ears and grabbed her hands. 

“It’s embarrassing and stupid,” Grace groaned. “Last time I felt like this, I made a complete fool out of myself. Plus I don’t even know how I feel about him, JJ. Sure, I think that he’s attractive, but that doesn’t mean that I’m attracted to him like that!” 

JJ rubbed gentle circles on the tops of Grace’s hands. “I know, I’m sorry that I pushed. I care about you and your feelings, I don’t want you to hold yourself back because you get too stuck in your head,” JJ removed her hands from Grace’s, and let one hand settle on the younger woman’s face. 

“I know, thank you,” Grace leaned into JJ’s touch and let out a gentle sigh. “Let’s go back out there, it’ll be too suspicious if we’re gone for any longer.”

The two women walked out of the bathroom and back into the living room. The radio was louder now, and Penelope and Emily were singing along to Let it Snow by Bing Crosby. Grace chuckled at the sight of the two ladies belting off key to the music. Morgan and Will were standing off to the side, talking about some recent sporting event that Grace didn’t care about. 

She sat down next to Reid and nudged him. “Get a load of those two goons,” she smiled at her friends giving them a private concert. 

“Yeah, they said that they needed to liven up the party a little bit,” he looked at Grace and smiled. 

Grace looked over at him, and then the present on his lap. “Hey, you didn’t open it?”

Reid licked his lips. “No, I, uh… I was going to wait until things had calmed down a little bit,” he looked down at the present. 

“Well, things won’t get any more calm than this,” she nudged him and waited for him to open his present. She was nervous, she didn’t know if he already had it, or if he would even like it. Reid carefully took off the twine tied around it, and gently ripped the wrapping paper. Hiding underneath the light brown paper was a book titled ‘O Alquimista’. 

Grace wrung her hands while Reid sat in silence, studying the cover of the book. “I have the gift receipt if you don’t like it, or if you already have it. It was one of my favorite books when I was younger, I read it in English though. This copy is in Portuguese, I don’t even know if you can understand Portuguese-“ Grace’s rambling was cut off when Reid spoke.

“Grace, it’s perfect, thank you,” He took her hands in his and gave her a warm smile. She melted and wondered why she ever doubted her decision to buy him the book. “You didn’t have to get me a present though,” he gave her hands a squeeze and then set his own hands in his lap. 

Grace blushed and bit her lip. “I know, but I saw the book and thought of you.” She gave him a lopsided smile and nudged him again. 

Reid nudged her back and chuckled. “If I’m being completely honest, I don’t know Portuguese.”

Grace groaned and put her head in her hands. “Shit, I should have trusted my gut,” her voice was muffled by her hands. She removed her face from her hands and leaned back. “Okay, you speak English,” she held a finger up, counting Reid’s extensive understanding of languages. “Latin,” she held another finger up. “Korean,” a third finger. “And…” Grace pondered, racking her brain for the fourth language.

“Russian,” Reid grinned at her. Grace threw her hands up in defeat. Reid chuckled at her feigned exasperation.

“Who the hell speaks Russian, other than Russians?” She giggled and ruffled his long hair. “It is definitely not my fault that I assumed you would be able to understand Portugeuse!”

Reid couldn’t take his eyes away from her. “Well, I’ve been wanting to pick up a new language, perfect time to start, I guess.”

Grace drew her attention to the rest of the adults in the room and smiled to herself. She soaked in the positive atmosphere of the house and allowed herself to sink further into the couch. She hummed in a content manner and crossed her arms across her chest. “Hey Reid, if you thought the coffee was good tonight, you should try it when I have access to a milk frother.” 

Reid looked at her fondly and gave a small sound of amusement. “I’ll hold you to that.” 

Grace grinned and playfully put a hand on his knee. Holidays were typically bad for her, but this one might not suck.

———————- 

The rest of the evening felt like a blur, full of laughter and stories. Grace and JJ looked over the photo album and laughed at all of the photos of college-age JJ and Haley. There were a few pictures of middle school and high school Grace in the mix, and Grace protested and squealed when her friends tried to look at them.

“Whoa, get a load of little braceface in this one!” Emily laughed as she pointed to a picture of Grace. She was 13 in the picture, and had braces covering her huge smile, as well as big glasses covering her face. 

Grace covered her face and groaned. “Oh my god, you can see my training bra in that picture,” Grace’s cheeks turned a bright red as she tried to ignore her friends.

“Oh my god Grace look at this one,” JJ gasped. Grace uncovered her eyes and looked over at the picture. She gave a sad smile as she examined the photograph.  
“That was my first trip to the BAU,” she stared at her younger self, smiling between Haley and JJ. That was her first time meeting anyone on the team. Haley had dragged her along one weekend that she was going down to visit JJ, before Grace’s sophomore year of college. Grace was upset about it at the time, but ended up having a really good time. Other than embarrassing herself in front of Spencer Reid, that is.

“Whoa, how long ago was that?” Morgan took the photo album from JJ and studied the picture more closely. 

“It was in 2005, so, three years ago?” JJ looked over at Morgan.

“A lot has changed since then,” Grace looked over at Emily. “That was taken before we met, I’m so glad that you got a position at the BAU,” she smiled and then got quiet for a moment. “I wish that you would have joined sooner, though. You would have loved Haley.”

Emily took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “If she’s anything like you, I know that I would have.” 

They all went back to looking at the photo album. Reid pointed out a picture of JJ and laughed. “JJ, you had a perm?”

JJ rolled her eyes. “Yes, I had a perm. It was not my best hair decision, but we do not talk about it.” 

Emily took the photo album and started to crack up. “We should definitely talk about it. Look at that!”

JJ snatched the photo album back. “Oh you wanna talk about questionable high school hair decisions? We’ve all seen that picture of you,” JJ giggled.

Emily blushed and threw her hands up. “You people never let anything go!”

Grace burst into laughter, followed by Penelope, Reid, and Morgan.

Emily playfully shoved Reid. “Reid, you still look like you’re in high school, you have no room to be laughing at me.”

Grace started to laugh harder until tears filled her eyes. Her sides hurt, as she wiped the tears away. Reid looked over at her, ready to deliver a witty comeback to both Emily and Grace, but he stopped when he noticed how happy Grace looked. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were still a little bit watery, and she was catching her breath. Something in his chest felt heavy.

He looked away when she noticed that he was staring at her. She gave him a strange look, but continued to look through the photo album as if nothing had happened.

Eventually, the night came to a close. Everyone started to say their goodbyes, and Grace got more than a few hugs and kind words. Finally, it was her turn to say goodbye to Reid. 

“My offer about the coffee still stands,” she bit her lip and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. They were standing on the porch, right outside of the front door.

“I’ll, uh… I’ll take you up on it sometime. And I’ll let you know when I read this,” he held up O Alquimist, and gave Grace a lopsided smile.

Grace looked up at him and grinned, and then her eyes travelled even further up. Her stomach dropped. “God, of course she would hang it up here,” she winced when she saw the mistletoe above them.

Reid quirked an eyebrow at her comment, before turning his attention to the ceiling above them. “Oh.” His voice came out higher than he wanted it to.

Grace cleared her throat. “Holiday traditions are bullshit anyways,” she shrugged. 

Reid nodded and swallowed. “Uh… Yeah,” he bit his lower lip.  
“Well, goodnight Spencer,” she playfully punched him in the arm.

Reid chuckled at her attempt to turn the conversation in a different direction. “Yeah, you too, Grace.”

Grace started to take a step back, but instead decided to take a step towards Reid. She stood on her toes and planted a kiss on his cheek. When she stepped back, she noticed the pink lipstick mark that she left on him. She gave him a grin, clapped her hands together, and then put them behind her back.

“Happy holidays, Spence,” She stretched onto her toes for a second and then turned around, and walked inside.

Reid was left standing in the cold for a moment, before he smiled and walked over to his car. Grace watched him drive off from inside of the house, and then she walked over to JJ and started to gently hit her arm. “Oh my god, I hate you so much,” She couldn’t help but laugh as she scolded JJ.

JJ laughed and shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She feigned denial of the subject.

“Right, I totally believe you,” Grace rolled her eyes and made her way over to the guest bedroom. “Well, I’m going to bed, I’ll see you scheming hooligans tomorrow.”

“Hey, don’t lump me in with her, I had no part in this,” Will chuckled as he called after her.

Grace grinned and shut the door. She quickly changed into grey sweatpants and a t-shirt, and crawled into bed. She turned the lamp off, closed her eyes, and fell asleep instantaneously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! thank you so much for reading. like always, please leave kudos and/or a comment if you're interested in seeing more!


	5. One in Four Hundred Trillion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jj has henry!! reid and grace talk about reid’s recent trip to las vegas and bond over absent fathers 
> 
> Title Song: What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope that you guys enjoy this chapter! im not happy with it, but oh well. i almost continued it but i was having a really hard time with it so im just going to continue into the next chapter!!

Grace pulled up to the large barn, and parked in front of it. She hopped out of her car, grabbed her backpack and boots from the backseat, and walked up to the big doors. She took a deep inhale and smiled. 

This was her happy place. She had managed to keep it clean and pure, untainted from bad memories or stressors. 

She started working at this barn immediately following her move down to Virginia. She needed the extra money, and she had lots of experience around horses, so she figured it would be good to do part time. 

She fed the horses, made sure they had water, rotated them between green pastures, and mucked stalls. It seemed like a boring job, but she found the repetition therapeutic. It allowed her to get into a rhythm, and not think about anything else for a little bit.

Grace also taught riding lessons, and trained horses, though she wasn’t doing too much of that now because of school. When she had extra time, and needed extra cash, she was quick to schedule lessons and contact clients.

Grace started preparing the horse feed, and hummed as she did so. She did all that she could to get her mind to be as quiet as possible. She let herself get absorbed into her work, and tuned the rest of the world out. She hadn’t been able to breathe since starting the second semester of her senior year. Winter break was a nice change of pace for her, but that was a few months ago, and now she was back up to her usual speed. 

Grace was able to keep all thoughts at bay for a while at least. She was ripped back into reality when her phone rang. She sighed loudly and checked the caller ID.

“Hey JJ, what’s up?” Grace walked over to a chestnut gelding with a snip, and started to pet his neck gently. 

“Hey, are you busy right now?” JJ’s voice sounded a little frantic. Grace cocked an eyebrow.

“I’m at the barn right now, finishing up work,” Grace kept her attention on the horse in front of her. 

“Oh, okay, never mind then,” JJ laughed nervously.

“What’s going on? You never call unless it’s actually important,” Grace felt panic start to brew and bubble in her stomach. 

“Oh nothing, I’m just going into labor I think, Emily and Penelope are coming to the hospital with me,” JJ tried to sound as nonchalant as possible. Grace’s jaw dropped.

“You think that you’re going into labor?” The corners of Grace’s mouth turned up in an open mouth smile. “Oh my god, JJ! I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“No don’t worry about me, finish your work, I’ll be here,” JJ’s voice cut out as she fought through another contraction.

“No I’m on my way right now, I’m not missing this,” Grace hurried to find one of her coworkers. She quickly explained the situation, and her coworker happily agreed to finish up the chores for the night. “Hang in there, JJ,” Grace managed to get out before she got in her car. She was shaking with excitement, and she felt like she was going to cry. 

Grace managed to go most of the way without hitting bad traffic. As soon as she got close to Quantico, however, she got stuck in terrible bumper-to-bumper. She started to get frantic, getting as close to the car in front of her as she could, and honking in hopes to somehow miraculously speed up traffic. 

Despite her hectic driving, she made it to the hospital in one piece. Grace flew through the doors and to the front desk. They told her which room she was in, and she practically ran to the maternity ward. She saw Emily, Penelope, and Hotch standing in the waiting area. Grace exhaled for what felt like the first time since JJ had called her. 

“Hey guys,” Grace did a little jogs over to them.

“Oh good, you’re here,” Emily have a sigh of relief and embraced Grace warmly.

Grace pulled away from the hug and looked at the three adults standing in front of her. “How late am I?”

“You’re not late, she isn’t even fully dilated yet,” Hotch extended his hand to Grace. She shook it confidently. “Good to see you again, Grace.” 

“Good to see you too, Hotch,” Grace smiled at him warmly. Grace looked around at everyone, and frowned, realizing the group was nowhere near complete. “Are they still in Las Vegas?” 

Hotch sighed. “Yes, I was hoping that they would be back by now, but something came up.” He looked down at his watch. “Their flight is in 12 hours. We’ll see if they get here before the baby does.”

The four of them sat down on the stiff chairs in the waiting room. They chatted and told stories while they waited for an update on JJ. They all took turns doing coffee runs, and at over 14 hours in, they were feeling exhausted and anxious. 

“So, have you put any thought into what we talked about?” Hotch raised an eyebrow at Grace and took a sip of his hospital coffee.

Grace set her coffee down and looked over at Hotch. “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it but…” she sighed. “I don’t know, Hotch. I would have to apply this month, and I don’t know if I could get that much time off of work without quitting, and I don’t even think that I meet all of the requirements,” She picked her coffee back up and looked into the styrofoam cup. 

Hotch frowned. “You do meet all of the requirements, and I’m sure that I could help you make arrangements. I’m not asking you to make a decision now, but please consider it.”

Grace nodded and took a big sip of her bad coffee. She opened her mouth to say something to Emily, but was interrupted when Will came bursting out of the hospital room. The four of them jumped up from their chairs, waiting for what he would say. 

He saw Grace and sighed in relief. “Thank god you’re here, JJ wants you in there,” he looked at the other adults and shook his head. “No baby yet.”

Grace made her way to the hospital room and opened the door. She saw JJ and walked over to the front of her bed. “Hey, how are you doing?”

JJ’s eyes were red and puffy. “Grace, I don’t think I can do this,” she bit her lip and her eyes watered. 

“Of course you can, the doctor’s will tell you when to push, and then you’ll follow your instructions and you’ll have a baby-“ Grace was cut off by a loud sob.

Tears streamed down JJ’s face, and her breathing picked up. “I don’t think that I’m ready, he wasn’t due for another three weeks, I thought I had more time,” the end of her words were cut short as another contraction hit. 

Grace grabbed JJ’s hand and squeezed it tightly. “JJ, you’re going to be the best mom. You basically raised me when I moved down to Virginia, and I was a handful. You are ready for this,” She leaned down and spoke reassuringly to JJ. 

“She’s at 10 centimeters. JJ, I’m going to have you start pushing soon, okay?” The doctor positioned herself at the end of JJ’s hospital bed.

JJ bit her lip and nodded. She turned to Grace. “Can you get Will? I need him to be in here.”

Grace nodded and ran out of the room. “It’s time,” she gasped out. Will’s face went white and he followed her back into the hospital room. She walked inside with with, and as she was about to leave and go back to the waiting room, JJ called out for her and pleaded her to stay. 

Grace moved quickly up to JJ’s bed, standing on the side opposite to Will, and took JJ’s right hand. The doctor told JJ to start pushing, and she pushed hard. JJ screamed and squeezed Grace and Will’s hands as tightly as she could, and they both whispered words of encouragement.

Finally, after many tears, from Grace, Will, and JJ, the doctor held up their new baby. “Congratulations, it’s a boy.”

JJ threw her head back and let out a sob. Grace’s eyes welled up as she rubbed circles into JJ’s hand. Will hugged JJ and planted a kiss on the top of the head. 

“Dad, do you want to cut the umbilical cord?” The doctor motioned for Will to come over to her. Will snipped the umbilical cord, and the nurse took the baby to clean him up a little bit. Finally, he was handed to JJ. 

She took him in her arms, and looked down at his small face and hands. He had plump cheeks and lips, and thick wrists. JJ started to cry again, and held him closer. Will sat down on the bed next to her, and snuggled close to them. “Hi Henry,” JJ sniffled and touched his little hands. “Welcome to the world.”

Grace leaned over to see him, and wiped her own tears away. “He’s so beautiful,” she was awestruck by the small bundle. She looked over at JJ and touched her face gently. “And you’re beautiful too, you’re practically glowing.”

JJ let out a tired laugh and took Grace’s hand. “Thank you for being here,” she gave her hand a squeeze. “I wanted to ask you something, too,” JJ looked down at baby Henry and smiled. “He’ll need someone strong to look up to, and to look after him, in case anything ever happens to Will and I,” she looked back up at Grace and smiled. “Will you be his godmother?”

Grace smiled softly and nodded. “Of course I will,” her voice was quiet as she felt a new wave of emotion come over her. 

“Do you want to hold him?” JJ’s voice was soft. She was already fitting into the motherly role like she was born for it. Grace opened her mouth to protest, but JJ beat her to it. “I’ll have all of the rest of my life to hold him. You won’t be able to see him as often.”

Grace our hand sanitizer on, and then leaned down and took him gently in her arms. She cradled his head, and held him close to her chest. She wanted to hold her breath, to keep everything inside of her so she didn’t somehow ruin this pure baby. She stared down at him for a while, and then once she decided that he was safe, she spoke.

“Hi Henry, I’m Grace. I’m your godmother,” she rocked him in her arms gently. “I’m going to make you call me Aunt Grace, though, JJ is basically my sister,” she grinned and touched his face. “I’m going to be the cool aunt that spoils him, I hope that you know that,” she looked over at JJ.

JJ looked at Grace with an expression that was a mix between fond and proud, and nodded. “Oh obviously, what else would you be?”

Henry yawned and they all made noises of awe. Grace gently handed Henry back to JJ. “I’m going to tell the team, is that okay?” 

JJ nodded, and Grace made her way out of the room and into the waiting area. Emily, Penelope, and Hotch stood up. “It’s a boy,” the corners of Grace’s lips turned upwards to reveal a toothy grin. Emily, Penelope, and Grace all hugged and laughed in relief. They waited until Will told them that it was okay for them to come in, and one by one they filed into the small room. 

They all stared at the new family in excited disbelief. Penelope was the first to speak. “Will, looks just like you,” she smiled at the new father. 

“Let’s hope he grows out of that,” Will chuckled.

“Just as long as he doesn’t inherit the accent,” Emily smirked, and then put her hands up as if to say ‘just kidding’.

There was a quiet knock at the door and Reid poked his head in. “Is there room for one more in here?” He slowly entered the room, and Grace felt a smile creep onto her face. 

JJ sighed in relief and smiled. “Spence, hi.”

Hotch shook his hand. “Welcome back.”

Reid looked around the room at the familiar faces, then at baby Henry. “Wow,” he studied the tiny human in JJ’s arms. “Congratulations,” he stepped forward and shook Will’s hand. Will responded with a polite thank you and a grin. 

“How is it that I just went through fifteen hours of labor, and you look worse than I do?” JJ let out a breathy laugh.

Reid chuckled. “You’re ridiculous, you look beautiful,” he looked down at Henry again and emotions filled his chest. After the stressful situation he had gone through in Las Vegas less than twenty four hours prior, this was the exact kind of thing he needed to remind him that there was still good in the world. 

Will looked around at everyone, and took a step towards the door. “Well I could sure use some coffee, anyone else?” 

Emily, Penelope, and Hotch nodded and followed him out of the door. Grace stayed back for a moment and walked over to JJ. She planted a kiss on the top of her head and smiled. “I’m so proud of you.” She turned her attention over at Reid and gave him a knowing look, then followed the others.

The group made their way to the small cafeteria and sat down at a large table. Grace sat down next to Penelope and laid her head down on the table. Penelope gave her a worried look and set a hand on her back.

“Honey, are you okay?” Penelope rubbed a few small circles on Grace’s upper back. Grace turned her head to face Penelope and then laid it back down on the table. 

“Yeah, I’m just-“ she cut herself off with a yawn. Grave stretched in the chair and sat up. “I’m just a little bit tired.”

“You can go home and get some sleep,” Will pushed gently. “We’ll be okay.”

Grace opened her mouth to respond right as Reid joined them. He slumped down in an empty chair and looked around at everyone. 

Penelope leaned over to Grace. “Speaking of people who need sleep,” she whispered. Grace gave her a small smirk and nudged her. 

Grace leaned forward and propped an elbow on the table. She rested her chin on her fist and relaxed her shoulders. “How are you doing, Reid?” Her eyes settled on his tired face.

“I’m, uh…” Reid furrowed his brows and licked his lips. “I’m okay. It’s been a weird couple of days, but I’m feeling a lot better.” 

Grace opened her mouth to say something, but decided it would be better if she didn’t. She nodded sympathetically and resisted the urge to reach out and touch him. 

Will was the one to break the silence that fell over the table. “I’m going to go back to JJ and Henry, I’ll see you guys in a little bit.”

There was a chorus of goodbyes as Will walked back towards the maternity ward. Hotch stood up shortly following Will’s departure. “I should get back home to Jack, I’ll see you all in the office on Monday morning,” Hotch nodded at the table and followed Will back to the maternity ward so he could say goodbye to JJ before he went home.

Grace, Penelope, Emily, and Reid all sat in silence. Emily and Penelope looked at each other and raised their eyebrows. “Hey, uh, guys. We’ll be right back,” Emily stood up and motioned for Penelope to follow her. The two women left, and Grace and Reid were left sitting at the large table, alone. 

Grace grabbed her necklace and twisted it around in her delicate fingers. She bit her lip and looked around the cafeteria. She felt oddly trapped sitting in the open room. 

“I think that I need some air, I’m going on a walk,” she stood up without much thought and looked at Reid. “Wanna come with?”

Reid raised an eyebrow and blinked. He nodded slowly, uttering a quick ‘sure’, and followed her out of the cafeteria. Neither of them spoke a word until they were closer to a different ward. 

“So,” Grace slowed her walking pace and turned her shoulders towards Reid. “What happened in Las Vegas? JJ didn’t tell me any details other than something came up and you wanted to stay longer.”

Reid’s shoulders tensed up. “Something came up with my dad,” his voice was blunt and to the point. 

Grave stopped walking. “Oh,” her face fell, knowing how bad Reid’s relationship with his father was. “If you want to talk about it, I’m here to listen. I believe that it’s good to express your emotions in a controlled situation. I won’t push if you aren’t comfortable, though.” 

Reid swallowed hard and nodded. “Yeah, uh, that might be nice.” Grace touched his arm gently and smiled at him. 

“Let’s go sit down somewhere, I feel like the physicians won’t appreciate us blocking the middle of the hallway for much longer,” she nudged him and started walking to the outdoor courtyard. Reid followed her outside, and they sat down on a bench.

“So?” Grace turned to face him and waited to hear the events that transpired that left Reid looking so exhausted and upset.

“When I was a kid, there was a boy my age who was murdered in his basement, and found behind the washing machine. His name was Riley Jenkins. He was on my little league team,” Reid sighed as he started his story. “During our case in Las Vegas, I started to have really vivid nightmares about him, and I kept picturing my dad as the unsub,” Reid began to wring his hands anxiously. “I couldn’t get the idea out of my head that maybe he did it. I decided to stay in Las Vegas to further investigate, I couldn’t leave if there was a chance that I could catch whoever killed Riley. Morgan and Rossi stayed back with me, and they kept urging me to drop it and go home, but I kept finding new pieces of information and I couldn’t stop.”

Grace listened intently. She hadn’t realized that the situation was actually so serious, she assumed other circumstances arose.

Reid continued, his voice faltering slightly. “I did more digging, and uh,” Reid swallowed hard and furrowed his brows. “I found out that my dad never left. He moved nine miles away and didn’t tell me,” Reid choked out a laugh. “He never made an effort to contact me for 17 years.”

Grace’s stomach dropped. “Spencer, I’m so sorry, I…” She racked her brain for things she could say. She wasn’t a stranger to abandonment by father, but she couldn’t imagine the pain he must have been feeling. 

“Anyways, uh…” Reid looked at his lap. “He didn’t kill Riley,” he cleared his throat and leaned back on the bench. He could feel tears start to prickle in the corners of his hazel eyes, and he tried to swallow his emotions back down. 

Grace’s heart broke at the sight of him so torn up about his father. She slowly reached out to him and pulled him into a tight hug. He stiffened at her initial touch, but slowly melted into it. She rubbed careful circles into his back and held him. He didn’t reciprocate the hug, he just slumped into Grace and put his head on her shoulder. She didn’t mind, he needed reassurance and she was here to provide it. 

Reid squeezed his eyes shut to avoid crying into her shoulder. She felt him tense up again, and she pulled him in even closer. “It’s okay, shhh, it’s okay,” she cooed to him softly. Reid finally wrapped his arms around her waist and let out a long, shaky exhale. 

Grace didn’t pull away until he did, and even then she lingered for a moment. She studied Reid’s face, and wiped a stray tear from his eye. “It isn’t your fault that he left. There wasn’t anything you could have done differently, Spence.”

Reid winced. Logically, he knew that it wasn’t his fault. It was his father’s decision to leave, and nothing he could have done would have swayed that decision. But there was some part deep inside of him that still felt responsible. “I know.” 

Grace rested her hand on his bicep and frowned. “My dad left me too, I get it. It’s really hard not to blame yourself. Just trust me, you couldn’t make anyone leave you. This was his shitty decision.” 

Reid was quiet for a moment. He stared at his hands in his lap. When he finally spoke, his voice felt like it was somewhere else. “Thank you.”

Grace rubbed his arm gently. “Of course, Spencer. You shouldn’t have to hide your emotions. You’re a really good person, you’re allowed to feel.”

Reid’s face softened as he looked up at her. “She made me Henry’s godfather,” He huffed out a laugh. Grace smiled fondly at his change of expression.

“Looks like we’ll be competing for best godparent,” she nudged Reid. “Although i think that JJ is also asking Penelope, so we both have some serious competition.”

Grace stood up from the bench and nodded her head towards the hospital doors. “Let’s go back inside,” Grace stuck her hands in her pockets and suddenly became very self conscious about how she was dressed. She had rushed straight from work to the hospital, and was wearing old jeans, a dirty t-shirt, and old sneakers. 

It was far too late for her to do anything about it now, though. She had been wearing those clothes for almost 20 hours. She shrugged off her embarrassment and walked with Reid back into the hospital. 

“I could really use some coffee,” Reid’s lips turned up into a half-smile, as he looked down at Grace. 

Grace smirked and rolled her eyes. “Is that your request for more of my amazing coffee?” 

Reid shrugged. “Perhaps.” He grinned, and his eyes lit up. Grace put her finger on her chin and pursed her lips. 

“Hm, I don’t know. I’ll have to determine if you’re worthy. Last time I didn’t get a good enough reaction,” Grace nudged him and chuckled. 

Reid stuck out his lower lip and frowned. “Come on, please,” he pouted, and his eyes pleaded with her’s. Grace put a hand on his shoulder and shook it gently. 

“Of course I’ll make you coffee, you goon. I just wanted to see how upset you would get if I denied you that pleasure,” Grace giggled and walked into the maternity ward. She and Reid made their way to JJ’s room, and entered the room slowly. 

JJ was sleeping, with Henry in the hospital crib next to her bed. Will was laying next to her, the two of them crammed into the small space. Will looked over at Reid and Grace, and smiled. 

“Tell JJ to call me when she’s feeling up for more company,” Grace’s voice was hushed. Will nodded, and Grace and Reid creeped out of the room. Grace couldn’t do anything to contain the warm expression on her face. 

“Isn’t it amazing how you can create a whole new person,” Grace sounded like she was deep in thought, far from reality. Reid couldn’t help but chuckle at her wonder.

“Statistically, it’s actually incredible that you were born. The odds of you being born were one in four hundred trillion, though some scientists actually speculate that it’s actually one in four hundred quadrillion. You were a miracle,” Reid moved his hands as he explained.

Grace blushed and grinned. Reid cocked his head at her expression, and then realized what he had said. 

“I… uh… Not you, specifically, everyone has the same probability. Not that you aren’t special, but uh…” Reid fumbled for the right words, but couldn’t find them.

Grace nudged him. “I get it, thank you.” She smiled up at him, then looked around the maternity ward. “Well, I don’t think that JJ will be awake enough for company any time soon, are you still up for coffee?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!! you know the drill, kudos and/or comment if you enjoyed and want to see more!!


	6. UPDATE!!

hey guys!!! long time no see

with everything happening in the world, i’ve been feeling pretty occupied, as well as very unmotivated when it comes to writing this fic. i got to a place in chapter 6 that made me feel very stuck, and i wasn’t sure if i wanted to continue the chapter and push through, or publish it as is and start a new chapter. after a while of trying to write, and then delete and rewrite, i finally feel like im getting back into the groove of this story, and chapter 6 should be up either tonight or early tomorrow, followed closely by chapter 7!!

thank you guys so much for sticking with me, and enjoying this story as much as i do, it means so much!!


	7. Chapter 6: Graduation March

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace and Reid talk a little bit about Grace's insecurities, Grace makes Reid coffee again, and she graduates!!
> 
> TITLE SONG: Bloom by The Paper Kites

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW HI!!! sorry for such a long wait guys! life has been hectic and i've had truly brutal writers block. not satisfied with this chapter in the slightest, but if i keep trying to work on it, i'll never get it out so here we are

Grace tapped her delicate fingers on the steering wheel of her Subaru Outback, and hummed along to the song on the radio. She shifted her eyes to look at the lanky man sitting in the passenger seat. “So… is it this next right?” Grace raised an eyebrow.

Reid nodded. “Yeah, turn right up here and then take the next left,” he turned in his seat to face her. “So, what are your plans after graduation.”

Grace tapped her fingers harder and shrugged. “Hotch wants me to apply to the academy, but I feel like applying would be a waste of everyone’s time.”

Reid cocked an eyebrow and studied her expression. “Why? You would be a beneficial addition to the Bureau.”

“I don’t know, there are so many well-fit people, I feel like I don’t have a lot to offer,” Grace tensed her shoulders and kept her eyes focused on the road.

Reid frowned and set his hands on his lap. “That’s not true, you have a lot to offer. You’re compassionate, and intuitive. That goes a long way,” he sat with his words for a moment, and waited for her reaction. 

Grace relaxed her shoulders and exhaled. “Thanks, Reid, maybe I should get it over with and apply. I didn’t apply for grad school so there goes my chances of being a psychiatrist,” she frowned and looked over at him. “I guess I had my doubts about that too, though.”

Reid nodded knowingly and opened his mouth to say something, before realizing where they were. He pointed to a white brick building. “That’s my apartment.”

Grace pulled over in front of the building, and they both hopped out of her car. Reid strode towards his apartment building, and Grace had to do a small jog to catch up. 

“Please slow down, not all of us have ridiculously long limbs,” she groaned as she caught up to him. Reid smirked, and Grace smiled in return. “So, I finally get to see the famous Dr. Reid’s apartment,” Grace wiggled her eyebrows.

“I wouldn’t say that I’m famous by any means, but yes, you do get to see my apartment,” Reid led Grace up the stairs, to the second floor, and stopped in front of apartment number twenty three. He pulled his key out, and went to unlock the deadbolt, when Grace threw an arm across his chest. 

“Wait,” she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “I need a moment to process before you open that door,” her tone was very mock-dramatic, and Reid rolled his eyes. Grace opened one eye and grinned at him. “Okay, I’m ready.”

Reid opened the door and stepped inside. Grace entered and her jaw dropped in awe. Reid opened his mouth to say something, but Grace pressed a finger to his lips and shushed him. She took in the ambiance as she walked through Reid’s living room. 

She studied the muted green walls, and the art scattered across them. She made her way to the leather couch and smoothed a burnt orange pillow with her hands. Books were scattered across the dark wood coffee table, and she noticed the multiple bookshelves lining the walls of his apartment. Even his lighting fixtures were unique. He had multiple sconces on the walls, and the lamp next to the couch was made of stained glass. Everything about the space screamed ‘Spencer Reid’.

“Wow, this is a very elevated version of how I imagined your apartment to look,” she turned to him and raised an eyebrow. “You have really good taste, Dr. Reid.”

Reid felt his cheeks flush. “Thank you, I bought most of it used,” he rubbed the back of his neck.

Grace nodded and looked around the room a final time. “So, coffee?”

Reid responded with a quick ‘yes please’ and led her into the kitchen. “I don’t have a French press, but you can use anything you need.”

Grace made quick work to find his spices. She examined all of them and smirked. “Yes this will all do very nicely. Now out, you don’t get to watch the master do her best work,” Grace pushed Reid out of the kitchen. 

Reid didn’t try to protest, knowing that she would win in an argument, and instead slumped down onto his leather couch. 

Grace put water and coffee grounds in Reid’s coffee maker, and searched for the mugs while she waited for it to be done. She hummed a sweet melody as she floated around the kitchen. Reid closed his eyes and let himself relax, focusing only on her humming and the smell of coffee filling the small space. 

Grace poured the coffee and milk in the two mugs, and topped them off with sugar and spices.  
She made her way back into the living room and handed a mug to Reid, before plopping down next to him on the leather couch. Reid took a sip of the coffee, and let out a sigh of pleasure.

“So, what do you think? It’s different from the last coffee,” Grace clasped her hands together as she watched him drink from the mug. Reid nodded, unable to speak with coffee in his mouth. Grace pumped her fist up into the air and grinned. “Hell yeah, two in a row!”

Reid set his mug down, and chucked at her enthusiasm. “Am I allowed to know the secret ingredient now?”

Grace raised an eyebrow and leaned in closer to Reid. Her body language shifted into something that was more serious. “Do you really wanna know?” Her voice was low, as she narrowed her eyes and cocked her head. Reid swallowed hard, but eventually nodded. “Love.”

Reid’s mouth fell open and his face twisted into a confused expression. Grace managed to keep a straight face longer than she thought she could. Before long, she couldn’t contain her amusement, and she broke out into a fit of giggles. 

“Oh my god, you fell for that!” She folded in half and crossed her arms over her stomach. “I thought that you were a genius!” She could barely manage to say through her laughter.

Reid’s face turned a dark crimson and stuttered as he tried to find the right words. “In my defense, you’re a convincing liar,” Reid squeaked out. Grace rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the ribs.

“I thought that you were supposed to be a profiler, Dr. Reid,” she laid her head on the back of the couch and closed her eyes. She let out a soft hum as she felt Reid shift. She opened one eye and peered at him. “I haven’t slept in 27 hours, I think I need a nap.”

Reid’s face fell as his mouth turned into a frown. “You should get some sleep,” Reid licked his lips and paused. “You’re more than welcome to rest here for a little bit, I don’t mind. You can take the bed or the couch. I have to catch up on some reading, anyways.”

The corners of Grace’s soft lips turned up into a lazy grin. “I would really appreciate that, thank you Spencer,” She stood up from her spot next to Reid, and looked down. She frowned at her clothing and looked over at Reid. “I’m not doing anything until I get out of this gross outfit, though, I’m gonna get a change of clothes from my car.” 

Reid couldn’t get a word out before she was already out of the door and on her way to her car. She retrieved her go-bag, and hurried back up to Reid’s apartment. She opened the door to find that he hadn’t moved from his spot on the couch. “Where’s your bathroom?”

Reid pointed towards a door down the hallway. “First door to the left,” he watched as she made her way down the hallway. She opened the door and looked back at him.

“Thank you, Reid,” she slipped into the bathroom and shut the door before he could respond. Grace pulled off her dirty jeans and t-shirt, and reached into her faded blue bag. She fished out a clean pair of heathered grey University of Virginia sweatpants and black t-shirt. She stepped into the sweatpants, and put the t-shirt on. She looked at herself in the mirror hanging above the sink, and frowned. She looked like a wreck. She had large, very obvious dark circles under her eyes. Her hair, having been previously thrown up in a very messy bun, was frizzy, slightly knotted, and too wavy for her liking. She let out a sigh, and opened the door. She stepped into the hallway and looked over at Reid. “Are you sure that it’s okay that I sleep in your bed?”

Reid looked up from the book he was reading, and nodded. “Yeah of course,” he shot her a smile and looked down at his book.

“Okay, wake me up in a little bit?” Grace watched Reid nod again, and she turned on her heels before walking into Reid’s bedroom. She stepped inside, and huffed out a short laugh. His bedroom, much like the rest of his apartment, reflected his personality. She wandered over to his bed, and sat down on the edge of the left side. She smoothed out the comforter and closed her eyes. Grace sat like that for a moment, before finally deciding to climb under the blankets and lay her head down on the pillow. She inhaled, and let herself grin when she realized that the sheets smelled like Reid. She fell asleep, calm, and feeling safe.

\-------------------------------------------

Grace opened her big eyes slowly, and yawned. She rubbed her eyes, and sat up. When her eyes focused, she saw Reid sitting at the edge of the bed. “Oh, hi,” her voice was groggy, and her demeanor was sleepy. “What time is it?”

Reid looked at his watch. “It’s a quarter past two. I was going to let you sleep for longer, but uh…” Reid licked his lips. “I didn’t want you to mess up your sleep schedule.”

Grace stretched her arms up into the air and yawned, then bent forward and grabbed her feet, laying her chest across her legs. “No it’s okay, thank you,” she stayed in this position for a moment, letting herself wake up. When she eventually sat up, she climbed out of the bed and sat next to Reid. “Thank you, again, for looking out for me.”

Reid’s expression softened. “Yeah of course, what are friends for?” He cracked a kind smile and stood up from the bed. “Well I’m pretty hungry, what about you?”

Grace nodded quickly and stood up. “Yeah I’m starving. What do you have in mind?” She followed him out of the bedroom.

“There’s a really good indian restaurant a few miles from here,” Reid perked up at the chance to talk about one of his favorite places to eat. Grace’s heart melted at his excited demeanor.

“That sounds great, Spencer, I’ll drive?” She pulled her keys out of her purse and she swung them around her pointer finger. Reid gave her a short noise of agreement and followed her out of his apartment. He locked the door behind them, then they made their way to Grace’s car. 

They pulled up to the restaurant after their short drive and Grace scanned the street to find a spot. When she finally found a suitable place, she turned the radio off, then turned to Reid with serious eyes and tight lips. “Okay I’m going to need complete and total silence right now.”

Reid cocked an eyebrow. “Why-“ he was cut off as Grace pressed her index finger to his lips. Grace shot him a dirty look, and turned her body towards the cars parked near the curb. With extreme caution, she inched her car backwards into the spot. She held her breath, and scrunched up her nose, unaware that she was doing so as she focused all of her attention to the job at hand. When she finally switched her car into park, Reid let out a breathy chuckle. Grace narrowed her eyes and let out a quick huff of air. 

“I’d like to see you do a perfect parallel parking job without that much concentration, Dr. Reid,” she did very little to mask the tone of amusement in her voice. Grace unbuckled her seat belt and hopped out of her car.  
Reid mimicked her actions, and followed her inside of the restaurants, unable to shake the smile on his face.

———————-

Grace rolled the windows down of her 2000 forest green Subaru Outback, and stuck her left arm out of the window. She hummed along to the radio, and bobbed her head to the music. Her bright eyes caught sight of the graduation cap and gown on her passenger seat, and the corners of her plush lips turned up into a soft grin. After everything that she had gone through, she couldn’t believe that she was finally graduating from college and moving onto a new chapter in her life.

She had applied to the academy in Quantico, with the help and coaxing of Reid and JJ, and was accepted, and due to start in just a little over a week. She was going to live on campus at the academy, until she graduated, and moved to wherever she was placed. Grace rolled into the University of Virginia’s Rotunda parking lot and hopped out of her car, cap and gown in her hands. 

She strode past the large, neoclassical-style building, and made her way to The Lawn. She had made an effort to be early, but she quickly realized that her version of early was right on time. She scanned the sea of her fellow classmates, eager to find a recognizable face. Her eyes settled on her friend, Sarah, and she walked over to her with a pep in her step. Once she was close enough, Sarah caught sight of her and excitedly waved her over.  
“Grace! Hi! How are you feeling?” She opened her arms up to her petite friend, and pulled her into a tight hug.  
Grace grinned and gave her a big squeeze. “Nervous, excited, I don’t know, there are a lot of feelings going around my head right now. I felt like this day would never come, but now it seems like the past four years went by so fast,” she shrugged her shoulders. “But what about you? When do you leave for Massachusetts?” She watched Sarah’s eyes light up.  
“I leave in a few weeks! I was going to wait until August, but I figured that it would be good to go early so I can settle in before classes start. Plus, I would rather move into my apartment now than a few weeks before I start law school,” the woman said very matter-of-factly. “So have you decided if you’re going to Quantico or not?”

Grace nodded and smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, I actually got into the academy, I found out a week ago. I move to Quantico next week, and I start training immediately. Everything feels like it’s going so fast, I’m not sure if I can keep up,” she chuckled. 

“Yeah I know how you feel, I feel like I’m really growing up now,” Sarah giggled.  
Grace looked at Sarah’s perfectly placed cap, and wrinkle-free gown.“Hey, will you help me with my cap? I can never get it to sit right on my head,” She said bashfully. Sarah nodded enthusiastically and grabbed the black cap from Grace’s hands. She placed it gingerly on Grace’s head, and adjusted it until it looked perfect. Then, she brushed Grace’s light brown hair away from her face. 

“There, it looks absolutely perfect!” Sarah clapped her hands together and smiled.

Grace grinned and slipped into her graduation gown. “Thank you, I definitely don’t think that I could have done that by myself.” Someone made an announcement from the microphone on the stage for the class of 2009 to take their seats to prepare for the ceremony. 

“Well, I better go sit down then, I’ll see you afterwards?” Sarah shot her a huge grin.

“Yeah, of course, see you later,” Grace smiled and started to make her way over to her seat. She sat down between a boy that she recognized from her Cognitive Process lecture, and a girl that she had never seen before. The boy leaned over to say something to her, but the announcer’s voice rang through the speakers again. 

“Welcome everyone to the University of Virginia’s class of 2009 graduation ceremony, thank you all for coming. If you’d all like to take your seats, the ceremony will begin in fifteen minutes.”  
The ceremony went by in a blur. By the time that Grace’s name was called, and she went up to the stage to accept her diploma and shake the hands of the dean and the members of the board, she had completely stopped paying attention to her surroundings. Once she stepped onto the stage, she heard a few members of the crowd erupt into loud cheers. She looked into the crowd to see some friendly faces from her favorite FBI team, sitting alongside her parents. Her face turned crimson, and a smile crept across her mouth. She made her way across the stage, shook some hands, got her picture taken as she took her diploma, and made her way back to her seat after stepping off of the stage. The rest of the ceremony finished quickly, and soon it was time for the class of 2009 to celebrate finishing college, as they all threw their caps into the air. Cheers and gleeful proclamations could be heard coming from every student that stood on The Lawn. Grace made her way over to Sarah and threw her arms around her. Her other friends surrounded them and brought the two girls into a big group hug. The group of students laughed and smiled, relishing in this moment, the last graduation that some of them would have, and the last time most of them would ever step foot onto this campus again. It was very bittersweet, but they knew that it was necessary in moving forward. 

After a short while of exchanging kind words with her classmates, Grace was greeted by her parents. Her mom pulled her into a huge hug. “We are so, so proud of you, hon,” she sniffled and kissed her on the cheek. 

“Thank you both so much for being here,” she smiled at her mom and dad. After they stepped back, she was finally greeted by the members of the BAU. Penelope was the first to greet Grace. She pulled her into a big embrace, with tears in her eyes. 

“Oh sugar we are just so proud of you,” she sniffled into Grace’s shoulder. Grace chuckled and patted Penelope’s back gently. Morgan was the next to congratulate her. 

He pulled her into a tight bear hug. “Congratulations, kid. You’re gonna be part of the BAU in no time.”

Grace rolled her eyes. “I think there’s a little bit more that goes into it than that, but thank you,” she looked around at the people that mattered most to her. JJ threw her arms around the younger woman.  
“You’re going to get through the academy with no issues. I’m so proud of you,” she pulled away and looked over Grace’s face. “Haley would be so proud of you.”  
Emily was next to hug Grace. She squeezed her tightly and whispered words of encouragement in her ear. Hotch opted for a handshake instead of a hug, but he, too, gave her words of congratulations and praise.

Finally, it was Reid’s turn. “Congratulations, for, uh, graduating college and getting accepted into the academy. Neither of those are easy,” he grinned sheepishly. Grace chuckled at his bashfulness. 

“Coming from the guy who has done both of those things, and multiple times for the graduation part, I might add,” She shoved his shoulder playfully. “But thank you.”

Reid paused and debated whether to shake her hand or hug her like the others had done. Grace could sense his indecisiveness, and held her arms out to him. “Come on, don’t think too much about it,” Reid awkwardly shuffled over to her, and leaned into her embrace. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and rested his chin on her head. Grace smiled into his chest and closed her eyes. They stayed like that for a moment, and then stepped away from each other. “Well, I’m totally starved, anyone else?” Grace cocked an eyebrow as she looked at her friends. They all nodded in agreement and made their ways to the parking lot. Grace’s parents hugged her once again when they reached their cars, and left to let her go have lunch with her closest friends. Her heart felt full, like she was going to burst, and she wished that this feeling would stay forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter! it isn't as long as i would have liked, but oh well it feels like the best i can do right now. as always, please leave kudos/comments if you're interested in reading more of this fic!! thank you guys so much for the constant support, it means a lot!!!

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! please leave a comment and/or some kudos if you’re interested in seeing more. i’m a little nervous and embarrassed to post this because it’s literally my first ever piece of fan fiction, but fuck it


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